Cibulkova thinks Sharapova should start from zero

It’s April, which doesn’t normally turn a lot of attention on tennis. But this April is different—very different. Maria Sharapova’s 15-month doping suspension will come to an end on April 26.

She's accepted a wildcard into Stuttgart, despite not being able to set foot on the grounds until Wednesday of the week-long event. She’s also received wildcards into Rome and Madrid (the former world No. 1 has won Rome and Stuttgart three times and Madrid once).

No word yet on Grand Slams, but she picked up two of her five major titles at Roland Garros, so it wouldn’t be that shocking if she gained direct entry. Usually players are limited with how many wildcards they can receive, but a former Grand Slam champion gets unlimited access.

Fifteen months has given the tennis world plenty of time to opine on the Russian’s mistake and future, from current players to famed commentators. Recently, Brett Haber, Jon Wertheim, Tracy Austin and James Blake chatted about Sharapova’s return on the Tennis Channel:

Wertheim very casually dropped in the idea of the 29-year-old returning with a clean slate, starting from scratch on the ITF Pro Circuit as if she was a sprightly teen.

“What if she said, 'You know what I’ve been offered wildcards, but I think I’m going to really earn my way back. I’m going to go through the qualifying draws'?” Wertheim said. “Don’t you think from a PR perspective that would earn her immeasurable good will?”

World No. 4 Dominika Cibulkova agrees with the idea.

“It's not [just] about her,” Cibulkova said in Miami. “But I think everybody who is doping should start from zero.”

The Slovak disagrees with the peculiar Stuttgart situation. WTA CEO Steve Simon has said the decision is within the rules, but those rules may need to be reviewed.

“I don't think it's right but what we can do about it?” Cibulkova said. “She's still banned and she will come on Wednesday. That's pretty strange. I don't know. For me it's not OK, and I spoke to some other players and nobody is OK with it, but it's not up to us.”

Top 20 player Barbora Strycova has been in Sharapova’s shoes, having served a six-month ban for taking a weight-loss supplement that contained a banned ingredient. She made her return—also in Stuttgart— in 2013, but she had to play qualifying.

“I was so happy when I finally got on the court. I lost my ranking—I was No. 230 or something—so after losing in qualifying at Stuttgart, which is one of the best tournaments on tour, I had to play a $25,000 event in Wiesbaden some 100 miles away], which is so different,” [Strycova said in March. "But I like challenges. And this was a huge challenge. By the end of the year I was [No. 92] in the world.

“When I came back, I didn’t have anybody who would look at me different. But maybe I found out who is really my friend and who is not.”

Strycova's situation was different, obviously, but she didn’t have the luxury of wildcards.

“Of course it would have been nice to have wildcards when I came back but I’m not Sharapova. Nothing changed for her. She can play the same tournaments as me,” Strycova said. “I don’t have anything against her, and if I play her I will prepare the same—I won’t feel pushed to win any more than I normally do. That’s her problem; she did it; this is her career. What I don’t like is that she can play Wednesday, whereas we are coming from the Fed Cup and we have to play on Tuesday.

“It’s nothing against her, but for me it is against the rules.”