Where to watch
Bouchard vs Sharapova can be viewed on BT Sport 1, with live coverage of the WTA Premier Mandatory event available from 11.00 to 23.00 BST.
Such a ban expired in April and Sharapova, having been handed a controversial wildcard for the tournament she had previously won three times, beat Roberta Vinci on her return to competitive action in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix. The 30-year-old went on to defeat Ekaterina Makarova and Anett Kontaveit before being eliminated at the semi-final stage by Kristina Mladenovic – a defeat that means she will remain outside the world's top 200 and will require another wildcard to compete at the French Open later this month. That decision is set to be made on 16 May.
Should Sharapova beat Bouchard in the Spanish capital, then she would guarantee herself enough ranking points to secure a place in the qualifying draw for Wimbledon – which is charging for tickets for the first time in its history, a move that the tournament has described as a 'coincidence'. Sharapova's outspoken Canadian opponent, a former finalist at SW19 currently ranked at 60 by the WTA after a steady decline, is through to the second round of a tournament for the first time since losing to Coco Vandeweghe in Melbourne.
Her victory over Alize Cornet at the weekend ended a run of five consecutive first-round exits in Acapulco, Indian Wells, Miami, Monterrey and Istanbul. Bouchard is winless in four previous meetings against Sharapova, a sequenc
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