Maria Sharapova's place as a "grand slam champion" and "fan favourite" has earned her a wildcard into the main draw of the Rogers Cup in August, tournament organisers have announced.

Sharapova returned to the WTA Tour in April having served a 15-month doping ban for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.

Since her return the Russian has played in three tournaments on the Tour, reaching the semi-final in Stuttgart before making second round exits in Madrid and Rome – the latter due to injury.

She will not feature at the French Open, though, after organisers snubbed her when announcing their wildcard picks, while she is set to go through qualifying to reach the first round at Wimbledon.

That will not be the case in Toronto after she was placed straight into the main draw for the tournament - which starts on August 7.

"Maria is a grand slam champion and a fan favourite," said tournament director Karl Hale.

"She has served her suspension and we know our guests will be excited to see her play. 

"She will join what is set to be a star-studded field, as we look forward to welcoming the best of women's tennis back to Toronto. It should be a fantastic Rogers Cup filled with high-quality tennis and entertainment."

Sharapova will make her seventh appearance at the tournament and look to go one better than her previous best in 2009 when he was runner-up to Elena Dementieva.

"I'm really looking forward to coming back to Canada," Sharapova said.

"I have some great memories of playing Toronto in the past, and the tournament and the fans have always been so supportive. 

"This is one of the biggest events of the year and I hope to play my best tennis that week."