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Sharapova returned to the court last month after serving a
15-month suspension when she tested positive for a banned
substance at last year's Australian Open and the Russian has so
far been handed three wild cards to play WTA events. The Russian
reached the semi-finals of her first event back on the tour in
Stuttgart but was surprisingly denied a wild card for the French
Open with organizers uneasy about fast-tracking her into a
tournament she has won twice. Considered one of the biggest
names in tennis, Sharapova will attempt to qualify for Wimbledon
in July and has been invited to play in the Toronto event that
serves as one of the main warm-up tournaments for the U.S. Open.
Rogers Cup tournament director Karl Hale called Sharapova a "fan
favorite" with the 30-year-old saying she was keen to compete at
an event she last played in 2014.
"I'm really looking forward to coming back to Canada," Sharapova
told reporters. "This is one of the biggest events of the year
and I hope to play my best tennis that week."
Canada's top female player, Eugenie Bouchard remains one of
Sharapova's fiercest critics and maintains the Russian "cheater"
should have been banned for life and not welcomed back to tennis
so enthusiastically.
The pair met in a feisty second round encounter in Madrid
earlier this month with the 23-year-old Canadian emerging a 7-5
2-6 6-4 winner.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John
O'Brien)
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