Maria Sharapova takes wildcard decision out of Wimbledon's hands

20 May 2017 04:39

Maria Sharapova has taken the decision on whether she should be given a wildcard to Wimbledon out of the tournament's hands by announcing she will compete in the qualifying rounds.

The Russian, who was denied a place at the forthcoming French Open by the French Tennis Federation earlier this week, has earned enough ranking points since her return to the WTA Tour from a doping ban last month to take part in the preliminaries.

The 2004 SW19 champion could still have asked the All England Lawn and Tennis Club for a direct entry into the tournament, a decision which would have been made on June 20.

But Sharapova, who was given a wildcard to the Aegon Open in Birmingham on Thursday, has decided to try and qualify for Wimbledon in her own right.

In a statement on her website, Sharapova said: " A few months ago, I received a wildcard offer from Birmingham, one of my most memorable tournaments as a young player. I am so grateful and excited to be playing this event again!

"Because of my improved ranking after the first three tournaments of my return, I will also be playing the qualifying of Wimbledon in Roehampton, and will not be requesting a wildcard into the main draw.

"I have already started getting treatment on the injury I sustained a few days ago in Rome, and will begin my preparation as soon I get better."

Sharapova guaranteed she would be clear to enter the Wimbledon qualifiers by winning a first-round match against American Christina McHale at the Italian Open on Monday, before retiring injured in the third set against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni a day later.

That match came less than an hour after the FFT turned her down for Roland Garros, saying it would be wrong to hand a wildcard to a player returning from a doping suspension.

The five-time grand slam tournament winner will climb into the top 200 on Monday, high enough to earn a trip to London, albeit one that will begin earlier than usual.

She will need to win three matches to earn a place in the first round of the tournament itself.

Her intent to go into qualifying is likely to leave the AELTC breathing a sigh of relief as they faced a potentially controversial decision.

Wimbledon's tennis sub-committee , headed by former British number one Tim Henman, is due to make its wildcard choices on June 20. Wimbledon's website states they are typically offered "on the basis of past performance at Wimbledon or to increase British interest".

Any wildcard for Sharapova, who was Wimbledon champion as a 17-year-old in 2004, would have divided opinion.

Men's world number one and reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has been clear in his view that returning offenders should have to work their way back up and the same opinion has been expressed by a number of players on the women's tour.

Source: PA