Sky Sports tennis analyst Greg Rusedski has sympathised with tournament organisers who have handed Maria Sharapova wildcards on her return from a 15-month doping ban.
A number of players on the WTA Tour have expressed their disappointment at the decision to offer the 29-year-old an automatic entry into some big tournaments over the next few weeks.
All of which means the five-time grand slam winner from Russia will not have to pre-qualify for events in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome.
Sharapova may also receive wildcards for Grand Slam tournaments in Paris and at Wimbledon, and Rusedski said: "I __can see both sides of it.
"Promoters and tournaments want a big name in their event. They want Sharapova because she draws a big crowd no matter where she plays.
"But from a players' perspective, they're probably thinking she should 'earn your stripes back'.
"She's been banned and they probably think she should have to build her way back in.
"But there's no rules that say she has to do that so she's doing everything she has to abide by. At the end of the day, tennis is entertainment.
"If she's the one that's going to sell the most tickets, what are you going to do if you run an event? You're going to put her in." Sharapova returns to competitive tennis at Stuttgart on April 26.
Meanwhile, another Sky analyst Annabel Croft says Britain's Johanna Konta has the game win a Grand Slam singles title.
Konta claimed her biggest triumph to date at the Miami Open on Saturday when she out-played Caroline Wozniacki in the final.
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And Croft said: "Look at the calibre of all the players she's been beating. That is all in the bank now. The base of that pyramid is there and I think it's just kind of that next step.
"I'm sure that is what her eye is on and all the skills are there. She has an enormous arsenal of weapons when she comes on to court.
"She has a huge serve and a big second serve, great athletic ability, unbelievably athletic ground strokes from the back of the court and I think the last bit of the puzzle is maybe the mental strength and that's something she worked very, very hard on.
"It's all coming together so I definitely think she could win a grand slam title in the not too distant future."
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