Indian Wells: Chris Evert has no issue with tournaments handing Maria Sharapova wildcard entries as the Russian former world No. 1 makes her way back from a doping ban.
Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam champion who retired in 1989, was the latest to weigh into a debate in which many leading players have criticised tournament organisers for not making Sharapova earn her way back.
Wildcards are currently the only way Sharapova, who is unranked and serving a 15-month ban, can play in the big events and she has accepted invitations to tournaments in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome in the next two months.
"You can't blame the tournaments really for wanting to be successful and wanting to enhance their tournament by having a big draw like Maria Sharapova," Evert said on Wednesday in Indian Wells, where she is a television commentator for ESPN at the BNP Paribas Open.
"She is doing everything within the rules and she (will have) fulfilled her obligation of 15 months so I am not critical of that decision that the tournament made whatsoever."
Sharapova was among the top 10 players in the world when she tested positive for the banned substance meldonium at last year's Australian Open.
The 29-year-old Russian's two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation was later reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Sharapova said this year that she would return to competition at the Stuttgart Grand Prix, the main draw for which starts on April 24, the penultimate day of the five-time Grand Slam champion's ban.
Men's world No. 1 Andy Murray said he wished players would not get any favours on returning from bans regardless of their popularity while Dane Caroline Wozniacki called the decision to allow Sharapova to play "disrespectful".
At the moment, Sharapova would need a wildcard from the French Tennis Federation to play in the French Open. Her performances in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome could avoid forcing the All England Club into making the same decision regarding this year's Wimbledon.
"It's completely within the rules and fair for the tournament to reward whoever they want," former top-10 player Brad Gilbert said. "It will be interesting to see what the Grand Slams do."
Meanwhile, the British Lawn Tennis Association has insisted that no wild card offers have been made to Sharapova on their behalf, after her agent claimed that "every" WTA tournament had contacted him.
A wild card may be required if she wishes to compete in the British grass-court events in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne. Sharapova's agent, Max Eisenbud, the vice president of tennis at IMG, said on Wednesday that there had been no shortage of interest from tournaments. "Every WTA tournament called me, every single one," Eisenbud told CNN.
However, the LTA, which runs the series of pre-Wimbledon tournaments in the UK, said: "We have not made any offer, formally or proactively, to any player with regard to our summer grass-court events."
The All England Club will wait to see if Sharapova qualifies by right for Wimbledon on the entry deadline of May 22 rather than making a judgment in advance.
Meanwhile, the rules on wildcards handed to players who have been suspended could be reviewed in the wake of Sharapova's return from a doping ban, says the head of women's tennis.
But WTA chief Steve Simon said it would be unfair to "wipe out a career's worth of work", by changing the rules.
