‘I’m way above’ Bouchard’s ‘cheater’ remark, says Sharapova as she refuses to get drawn into war of words
Drug-ban Russian wins second game on comeback
Maria Sharapova hit back at Eugenie Bouchard’s “cheater” claims on Thursday, telling the Canadian that she is “way above” getting into a slanging match over her controversial comeback from a doping ban.
Bouchard, long seen as the Russian’s heir in the sport’s marketability stakes, had attacked Sharapova over her return from a 15-month suspension and suggested the former world number one should be kicked out of tennis for life.
But after reaching the Stuttgart quarter-finals on Thursday, Sharapova attempted to put Bouchard in her place.
“I don’t have anything to say – I am way above that,” she said when asked to respond to Bouchard’s comments after seeing off fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-1 in Stuttgart.
Many of the Russian’s rivals claim she is being given an unfair advantage by being handed wild cards to play at the Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome tournaments.
She will learn on May 16 whether she will be given a wild card to play at the French Open, where she has twice been champion, which starts May 22.