In almost exactly one month’s time, Maria Sharapova will make her comeback from the doping suspension that she is currently serving. As if anyone had forgotten, the Russian was banned from tennis for 15 months for failing a drug test for the banned substance, meldonium. That time period is now almost up and the former world No.1 is set to resume her career. It is one of the most hotly anticipated comebacks the world of sport has ever seen, but already there is unease about her return.

Sharapova’s first tournament back will be the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart which begins on April 24, for which she has been granted a wildcard. However, the Russian’s doping ban only ends on April 26 meaning that she cannot compete until day three of the event, something the organisers have accommodated. Her ban means that she cannot even set foot on the tournament venue until April 26 meaning that she cannot practice on-site or even pick up her credentials for the first two days of the event. Her tournament schedule following Stuttgart remains loose but she has already been granted wildcards for the Madrid and Rome tournaments while a decision by the French Tennis Federation on whether or not to grant the 29 year-old a wildcard into the second grand slam of the season is imminent.

It has been interesting to observe Sharapova’s fellow players’ reaction to her return. There is a general acknowledgement that she has served her ban and so her return to the Tour must be accepted. However, there has been a considerable level of vitriol with regards to the crystal staircase that has been laid on for her entrance back to top-level tennis.

There certainly seems something profoundly unjust about Sharapova being able to pick up exactly where she left off prior to her doping violation. World No.1 Angelique Kerber called the decision of the Stuttgart tournament organisers to award Sharapova a wildcard “a little bit strange” while also suggesting that many players felt that the Russian was having the rules bent for her in a manner that few others who had been charged with a doping offence would enjoy.

Andy Murray, who has long taken a hardened approach to dopers, has also been critical saying that he believes that wildcards should not be granted to players who have served doping bans. Former world No.1Caroline Wozniacki called the decision by the Stuttgart organisers “disrespectful”.

However, the harshest criticism was dealt out by world No.4 Dominika Cibulkova who has previously described Sharapova as a “totally unlikeable person – arrogant, conceited, and cold,” and who this week said that she believes the decision to grant her wildcards was “not ok”.

The former Wimbledon champion has never had many friends on the Tour yet she seems genuinely unconcerned about her unpopularity amongst her peers. However, what she is acutely concerned about is her attractiveness to potential sponsors. Prior to her ban, the Russian had finished the previous eleven years as the world’s highest paid female athlete with her off-court earnings dwarfing her on-court income and so the last thing she wants is for her reputation to be tarnished.

While her doping offence will stay on her record forever, it has, in the main, been accepted that she made a mistake around reading the updated banned list rather than there being any concerted effort to cheat. So why show such a lack of remorse on her return to the game when all that is likely to do is get people's hackles up? Her quest to secure a wildcard into the French Open is particularly problematic; if it is granted, she will likely deprive a young French player of the chance to appear in the main draw, a move that can only antagonise the bulk of the tennis watching public. Rather, why has she not chosen to accept a wildcard into the qualifying, breeze past a few players ranked around the top 150-200 mark as she would almost certainly do, and take her place in the main draw having earned it. It seems an obvious solution. Similarly, Sharapova has spent the past few months raving about how she’s enjoyed her break from the game and the last few weeks have seen her launch her comeback to the spotlight in earnest by appearing as the cover-star of a number of glossy magazines including, notably, Vogue in America. It hardly screams contrition.

Sharapova’s behaviour should come as little surprise. She has always done things her way with little concern for whether people like her attitude or not. However, she has always struck me as someone who is more savvy than this. Her comeback may be a resounding success and so the issue of wildcards will soon be forgotten. But she has established significant ill-feeling towards herself. Only the coming months will reveal if she can both return to the top of the rankings and rebuild the affection that has been almost completely shattered.