John Farley Spotlight: The Return of Maria Sharapova

I told myself I wasn't going to get into this. But here I am. The impending drama in Stuttgart seems to be pulling at me. Everybody will be writing about this with their 2 cents worth of opinion. Do I have 3 cents or more to contribute - I'm not sure, but here goes?

Maria Sharapova, like her or not, has almost served out her time imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and is scheduled to return to play in the middle of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Wednesday, April 26. She comes in on a highly controversial wildcard that has dollar (Euro) signs rolling big time in the eyes of the organizers. Those Euro signs are also rolling in the eyes of the tournament organizers in Madrid and Rome who also gave her wildcards. The French are balking, dealing with the ethical issue here and as of this writing haven't decided whether or not to give their 2012 and 2014 champion the wildcard. The French are invoking sport integrity. Enough said.

What tennis credentials does this player have that might entice tournament organizers to give her the wildcards? Well, she's won 35 titles, 5 Grand Slams, and is only one of ten women to hold the career Grand Slam. She's been #1 in the rankings five different times for a total of 21 weeks and stood on the Olympic podium in 2012 with a silver medal around her neck. But basically they want her because she's "Maria," and the controversy swirling around her is going to draw people and the press to those tournaments like an object inside the event horizon of a black hole is drawn irrevocably into its center. Some say her return is good for the sport. But only after the whirlwind of controversy finally abates and after she's made a few grunts on the courts of Stuttgart, Madrid, and Rome, will we be able to see how the winds are really blowing.

Players seem to be of different minds on the issue. Some see her as the unfriendly bitch in the locker room who has been given lenient treatment by WADA and special treatment by the tournaments. On the other side, some players feel she has served her time and it is the prerogative of tournaments to do what they want. And in between those extremes, lie a variety of sentiments. I guess for some it simply comes down to what kind of personal interaction they may have had with her.

WADA, I get the impression, is a tough, no-nonsense agency that thoroughly investigates each case of possible doping, holds to a high standard, and is uncompromisingly punitive in taking action. So I am comfortable that WADA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that handled Sharapova's appeal rigorously reviewed all the different aspects of the Sharapova doping case, and although in the end the CAS found fault, it found "no significant fault," thus reducing her suspension to 15 months, and allowing her to resume her tennis career April 26, 2017. So, I guess, there, I've made a stand.

There is also controversy over whether meldonium is even performance enhancing. Some experts say yes. Some experts say no. I'm no expert, but meldonium, like every drug, must have side effects which could actually be performance reducing I suppose. The major side effect for Sharapova was being banned from playing tennis for 15 months. Now that's a side effect. Quinoa, on the other hand, packed with nutrients, is probably performance enhancing, but since it is not a "drug," WADA doesn't care. (Yea, well they've never smoked Quinoa or put a little between their cheek and gum.) From watching players during sit-downs, I would say that bananas are not on WADA's list. (I'm not sure about banana peels.)

So on the weekend of April 22/23 when the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament draw is announced, will Maria Sharapova's name be listed there, for she is not even allowed to step on the grounds of the tournament until Wednesday the 26th? OR Will her name not be put on the board and not announced until 12:01 AM on the 26th? Oh, the drama. But I'll tell you this, that player whose name is next to Sharapova's on the draw board should consider herself immensely fortunate that she'll be playing possibly the most dangerous floater in the history of tennis because she will be immortalized in tennis trivia for generations to come. "Who was the first player to play Maria Sharapova after her 15-month suspension for doping?  Who won and what was the tournament?" (Update: Her first opponent will be Roberta Vinci.  Their H2H:  Sharapova 2-0. They last played at Indian Wells in 2012, 6-2, 6-1.)

Being the softie that I am, I would like to see not just the players at Stuttgart, but the tennis world generally, open their hearts and minds to Sharapova and genuinely welcome her back. Ordeals like the one Sharapova has been through that ripped her away from the thing she loved most, playing tennis, change people. Be open and give her the opportunity to express that change. We've all made mistakes, and paraphrasing a familiar saying, the player who has not made some mistake or bonehead choice in her career or turned a cold shoulder to another player even one time, cast the first criticism. Compassion should be a hallmark of the noble sport of tennis, for it is far easier and more fulfilling to be big, rather than small.

Anyway, that's how I see it.