Passion for game grew during suspension, says Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova`s love for tennis has only grown stronger during her 15-month doping ban, the five-times grand slam winner has said as she continues her comeback from the suspension.

The 30-year-old returned at the Stuttgart Open in April after being given a controversial wildcard and went on to play in the Madrid Open and Italian Open before sustaining a thigh injury that ruled her out of the grasscourt season.

As she prepares for the hardcourt season, starting with next week`s Bank of West Classic at Stanford, Sharapova said her struggles over the past two years have made her stronger.

"These last two years have been tougher — so much tougher — than I ever could have anticipated... my passion for the game has never wavered. If anything, it`s only grown stronger," Sharapova wrote in a column for The Players` Tribune.

"I`m getting ready for the North American hardcourt season now, one of my favourites. I`ll play Stanford, then Toronto — and I`m going to give it everything I have."

Players, both current and former, and pundits criticised her for the ban and her subsequent wildcard entries and Sharapova admitted that the increased scrutiny affected her.

"I`m not oblivious. I`m aware of what many of my peers have said about me, and how critical of me some of them have been in the press... I don`t think that sort of thing will ever fully be possible to ignore," Sharapova added.

"But at the same time I`ve always tried to keep a generous attitude toward critics in general... I`ve never wanted to respond to the people trashing me by trashing them back; that`s always been important to me.

"I`ve always wanted to face my critics by simply taking the high road. And by showing them, by showing everyone, that taking the high road is a choice."

After the Stanford tournament, the former world number one will play the Rogers Cup in Toronto, starting on August 7.