Putting the Sharapova wild card debate to rest

There is not one player in the world who is owed a wild card into a tournament. It does not matter how many times they have won a title, or how much better they might make the field, tournaments don’t owe anyone the gift of entry.

That includes five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, who just returned last month from a 15-month suspension for a failed drug test.

So on Tuesday, when French Tennis Federation President Bernard Guidicelli announced that the Russian would not receive a wild card into the main draw or qualifying event at the French Open, it should not have been looked at as a punishment.

"I'm very sorry for Maria, very sorry for her fans," Giudicelli said during a broadcast on Facebook. "But it's my responsibility, it's my mission, to protect the game and protect the high standards of the game."

Sharapova has already played in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome using wild card entries. But Giudicelli did not have to feel obligated to explain the decision, and doing so opened the door for questions.

"There are no grounds for any member of the TADP to penalize any player beyond the sanctions set forth in the final decisions resolving these matters,” Steve Simon, the CEO of the WTA Tour, wrote in a response to the FFT’s decision.

"Penalize" is a strong word to describe the action Guidicelli and the FFT took in Sharapova’s case. It is not like the two-time French Open champion fought her way up the rankings high enough to earn a spot in Roland Garros ahead of the ranking cutoff deadline, only to be denied entry.

As Frenchman Nicolas Mahut said on Twitter, Sharapova simply was not invited.

Now, you can make the argument that the FFT should not have given world No. 253-ranked Constant Lestienne, who was suspended last fall for betting on matches, a wild card into qualifying if Guidicelli really did not want to invite a player returning from suspension.

“Because Constant has paid his debt,” Giudicelli said. “He made a mistake and paid his debt and accepted to start again on the circuit, and he showed, I would say, his will to come back to the high level."

Lestienne actually had a wild card into the 2016 main draw, but it was taken away when the investigation surfaced. He would serve a suspended sentence.

Does Lestienne being French have something to do with it? It's possible. But the FFT still did not owe him a wild card. But Sharapova, like Lestienne, has paid her debts.

Ultimately, wild cards are not safety nets. They are opportunities bestowed to whoever a tournament director or federation feels belongs in the draw, for whatever reason they choose.

The tournament starts soon (May 28), and this conversation will finally be put to rest for good. Instead of letting this conversation pick up speed again, Sharapova made this statement regarding Wimbledon:

"Because of my improved ranking after the first three tournaments of my return, I will also be playing the Qualifying of Wimbledon in Roehampton, and will not be requesting a wild card into the main draw."

Does Sharapova belong in the French Open? Of course she does. The 30-year-old has won it twice. But she will not be stepping onto the terre battue in Paris this year. While her form during her comeback has been nothing but high, the FFT doesn't owe Sharapova anything.