Maria Sharapova made her much-anticipated and controversial return to tennis earlier this week in Stuttgart after serving a fifteen-month ban for a doping violation.  Not surprisingly, it sparked even more passionate debate about the validity of her being given a wild card into the event as well as other tournaments to follow.  For all of the emotions swirling around this curious case, however, the crux of the problem boils down to the rules of the game and the image that the sport wants to project.

The emotions stem from how people feel about Sharapova and her response to this incident.  It is no secret that Sharapova is not well liked in the locker room, and if she were more popular among her peers there might have been more forgiveness there.  That she has frequently argued she was the victim of a witch hunt by the ITF while simultaneously insisting she takes full responsibility for her actions seems a contradiction that has not sat well with others.

Furthermore, there has been a failure to distinguish that many players have an issue with the red carpet being rolled out for any player who is returning from a doping violation, not just Sharapova.  So, Sharapova's agent, Max Eisenbud, accusing Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki of specifically wanting Sharapova out of the game for their own benefit when they made this case is inaccurate and detrimental to the whole situation. 

But while the emotions surrounding Sharapova's return are what make it such an engaging topic, the fact is that it is something that could be avoided with a simple change to the existing rules.  As a former Grand Slam champion and winner of the WTA Championship, Sharapova is within her rights to ask for an unlimited number of wild cards.  And what player in her right mind is going to turn down a wild card if a tournament offers one?

Therefore, at least from a technical standpoint, the Russian has done nothing wrong in her return to the tour.  The onus is on the WTA and the ITF to determine if a player in Sharapova's shoes should still be able to ask for an unlimited number of free passes.  That decision will come down to better defining the notion of “time served.”  A number of current and former players who have come to the defense of Sharapova have argued she served her ban and should be eligible to play whenever and wherever.  Others in opposition would insist she has served her time, which makes her eligible to play but to play to rebuild her ranking by starting at the smaller events instead of taking a wild card from a player returning from injury or a home-grown talent.

How the WTA and ITF choose to define “time served” and potentially change any rules will depend much on the message they want to send to fans and players coming up the ranks.  This is really the most crucial part and one where there is no easy answer.  Sharapova's case was such a high-profile one because she is one of the biggest stars of the WTA.  She sells tickets.  Even 2016 US Open Finalist Karolina Pliskova admitted that it was good that Sharapova was returning given the recognition she brings to women's tennis and hinted that her return was of even greater importance with the news that Serena Williams would be out the remainder of the season.  Pliskova's outlook is an accurate one. 

There is no question that some names rake in more viewers and dollars than others, and Sharapova is one of those names.  With the WTA also struggling to maintain a great amount of consistency at the top, the Russian's return is a further boon to its prospects.  But maintaining the current rules strictly so that someone like Sharapova can have the road to her return made significantly easier and subsequently boost ticket sales and viewer numbers all but smacks of blatantly supporting the notion that one player is bigger than the sport.  Is that the message they want to send?

At this juncture, it is probably too soon to contemplate any major changes to the rules.  Emotions are extremely raw on both sides, and any decisions would likely be seen as being too directly tied to Sharapova and her place in the sport at this moment.  But there definitely needs to be a review of the rules in place, clarifications made, and truth be told, some level of change should be in order.