Report: Sharapova unlikely to receive wild card into French Open main draw

Maria Sharapova's 15-month doping ban is officially over, and she's set to make her return Wednesday as a wild-card entrant in the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

However, it appears her path to main-draw participation at the French Open will be a far more arduous one. Sharapova is unlikely to get a wild card into the main draw at Roland Garros, and will instead have to qualify, Simon Briggs of The Telegraph reports.

"We will have to reflect on it," French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli told Briggs. "(It) is about an important topic like doping."

Giudicelli says he will deliver an official ruling during the week of May 15.

Several WTA players have been vocal opponents of Sharapova receiving main-draw wild cards into tournaments - as she did in Stuttgart - in the wake of her positive test for the banned substance Meldonium in January 2016.

"I don't agree about the wild card here," said world No. 36 Roberta Vinci, who will be Sharapova's first-round opponent in Stuttgart. "And about the wild card in Rome and the other tournaments. I think (Sharapova) is a great player, person. She made her mistakes, for sure, but she paid and she can return to play but without any wild cards, any help, but just to play."

If she returns at anything close to the form she was in before receiving the ban, Sharapova shouldn't have too much difficulty making it through French Open qualifying. But with three extra matches tacked on to start, her performance in the main draw may ultimately suffer for it.