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Sharapova set for embarrassing French Open snub

Maria Sharapova will reportedly not be granted a wild card into the French Open, instead having to qualify in very different fashion to what she's used to.

According to The Telegraph, the former World No. 1 will be overlooked when the French Tennis Federation announces its wildcards for the women's main draw in three weeks time.

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The Telegraph report says Sharapova will be invited to the qualifying event, forcing her to win three qualifying matches for a chance to play in the main draw.

Sharapova. Image: Getty

Last month, French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli sounded unconvinced about her suitability for a main draw wild card.

"We will have to reflect on it … [it] is about an important topic like doping," said Giudicelli.

Wild cards are usually reserved for promising, young local players or stars returning from injury.

On Wednesday in Stuttgart, the 30-year-old will return from a 15-month doping suspension to open the next chapter of her tumultous career.

When she takes to the court to face Roberta Vinci, it will be to the consternation of many opponents and the relief, albeit privately, of a women's tour left flagging by the absence of Serena Williams, probably Sharapova's only serious rival in the arena-filling business.

Sharapova isn't losing any sleep as the 30-year-old prepares for her first match since being defeated by Williams in the 2016 Australian Open quarter-finals

"That is the least of my concerns. I know that I am respected in my field. I see it in how my opponents play against me," said Sharapova who was controversially handed a wild card into this week's Stuttgart event, a clay court tournament sponsored by Porsche, one of her headline backers.

Sharapova was banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation in June following a doping test conducted in January 2016 during her participation in the Australian Open.

The sanction was later dropped to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Far from being remorseful, Sharapova recently hit out at tennis authorities for failing to give her sufficient warning that meldonium had become a banned substance.

"Why didn't someone come up to me and have a private conversation, just an official to an athlete, which would have taken care of the confidentiality problem they talked about later?" Sharapova told The Times.

However, she did accept she had become "complacent", saying she was responsible for failing the drug test.

"Ultimately the fault was mine," she added. "I had been getting clearance on everything I was taking for seven years and I became complacent."