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Maria Sharapova granted her biggest wild card yet: the Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto

By Veronica Elizabeth Bruno

ROME, ITALY - MAY 15: Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates the victory after the match between Maria Sharapova of Russia and Christina Mchale of USA during The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2017 - Day Two at Foro Italico on May 15, 2017 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY - MAY 15: Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates the victory after the match between Maria Sharapova of Russia and Christina Mchale of USA during The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2017 - Day Two at Foro Italico on May 15, 2017 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images) /
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Maria Sharapova has been granted a spot at the Masters 1000 event in Toronto as she continues her comeback.

This won’t sit well with Canadian Genie Bouchard, but Maria Sharapova has a guaranteed spot at her home country’s marquee tennis tournament, the Rogers Cup event in August.

“Maria is a Grand Slam champion and a fan favorite,” said Karl Hale, tournament director of the Rogers Cup Toronto, in a released statement to the press. “She has served her suspension and we know our guests will be excited to see her play. She will join what is set to be a star-studded field, as we look forward to welcoming the best of women’s tennis back to Toronto this summer.”

The clay season may be over for Sharapova and she’ll be sweating it out during the grass term with a Wimbledon warm-up tourney and the All England qualifying event at Roehampton, but she’ll at least be playing at one of the major tournaments during the hard court season building up to the US Open. The wild card coup is the biggest yet since the Rogers Cup is a Masters 1000 tournament. So far, the former world No. 1 has participated in smaller events since returning to the game after a 15 month doping suspension.

We know one person who will not be happy, Eugenie Bouchard, who called her a “cheater” and then beat her at the Mutua Madrid Open a few weeks ago. Bouchard is one of several peers who view the Russian’s return with gifted wild cards as unfair and a somewhat “easy ride.”

Denied a wild card at the French Open with the French Tennis Federation CEO making an emphatic statement about the policy, the five-time grand slam champion started a debate among those at the Lawn Tennis Association about the gifting to the Wimbledon main draw. Having climbed the rankings to 173, the Wimbledon champ will be working her way up during the grass season. If she continues to rise in WTA rankings, there is a good chance that the tennis star can qualify for the Rogers Cup main draw outright, at which point the Canadian tournament officials will withdraw her wild card and award it to another player in need.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to Canada,” Sharapova said in a statement released to the press. “I have some great memories of playing Toronto in the past, and the tournament and the fans have always been so supportive. This is one of the biggest events of the year and I hope to play my best tennis that week.”

The two-time French Open champ hasn’t competed at the Canadian event since 2014 and she managed to make it to the final in 2009. The Rogers Cup takes place August 5-13, 2017.

Currently out for injury, we’ll see if Genie Bouchard will steel herself to recover so she can face her nemesis on home turf.

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