Maria Sharapova’s comeback: Players unhappy as promoters drool over profit margins at Stuttgart

Baden-Württemberg: Maria Sharapova returns from a 15-month doping ban on Wednesday with tournament promoters drooling over profit margins while rivals condemn the smooth road prepared for the Russian superstar`s rehabilitation.
When the former world number one and five-time Grand Slam title winner walks onto centre court at the Stuttgart Porsche Arena at 1630 GMT to face Italian veteran Roberta Vinci, she will, as always, be a polarising figure, her notoriously frosty detachment ratcheted up to maximum chill.
It will be her first match since a quarter-final loss to bitter rival Serena Williams at the 2016 Australian Open.
Just weeks after that defeat, Sharapova announced she had tested positive for meldonium.
An initial two-year suspension was cut to 15 months and here the 30-year-old is now — without a world ranking, requiring wildcards from tournaments and dividing opinion just as she has done ever since she burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old Wimbledon winner in 2004.
Stuttgart was the first event to hand her a wildcard, which was not surprising as the event is sponsored by Porsche, one of the Russian`s many high-profile personal sponsors. Forthcoming tournaments in Madrid and Rome have followed suit.With the likes of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova sidelined — and potential heir Eugenie Bouchard struggling — women`s tennis needs pulling power and Sharapova ticks all the boxes.