Returning to the WTA tour in two weeks at the Porsche Grand Prix after a 15-month doping suspension, Maria Sharapova has called for other players to stop criticizing her, and said authorities should have done more to inform her of a change in rules.
At the 2016 Australian Open, the 29-year-old Russian tested positive for meldonium. Sharapova said she had taking the drug for years because of a heart condition and did not know it had been recently banned. Some players, like Andy Murray, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, have recently questioned whether Sharapova should be receiving wild cards upon her return, while others like Venus Williams and Simona Halep do not have a problem with it.
"I've been serving my sentence," Sharapova said in an exclusive interview with Le Parisien. "So why persist? Is there any reason to keep punishing me? I don't see it.
"When the case [details] were still a bit unknown, everyone had the right to judge. But now that I have been through the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is neutral, I say stop. If the players keep criticizing me, then that is not correct."