French Open tennis organisers will decide on the May 15th whether to give two time champion Maria Sharapova a controversial wild card for the Grand Slam event.
She makes her comeback from a 15 month ban in Stuttgart next week ahead of the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Roland Garros will already be missing another big draw to the women's game as Serena Williams is expecting her first child.
Williams revealed that she was 20 weeks pregnant via social media app Snapchat before a spokesperson subsequently confirmed the story.
23 Grand Slam titles AND a baby soon, congrats @serenawilliams! The best trophy in the world 👶 pic.twitter.com/ghhCr15FQl
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) April 20, 2017
But French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli shrugged that off as a factor, saying they are "staging a Grand Slam, not a casting" and describing them as "two unconnected cases".
The French Open begins on May 28th.
Garbiñe Muguruza won the tournament in 2016, having beaten Williams in the final on the clay of Rolland Garros.
Sharapova won the French Open in 2012 and 2014, while Williams triumphed in 2002, 2013 and 2015.
