Wimbledon chiefs will wait until June 20, just days ahead of the qualifying event, before deciding whether to give a wildcard to former champion Maria Sharapova as she steps up her return from a doping ban
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Wimbledon chiefs will wait until June 20, just days ahead of the qualifying event, before deciding whether to give a wildcard to former champion Maria Sharapova as she steps up her return from a doping ban.
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The Russian, who won Wimbledon in 2004, made her return to competitive tennis at the Stuttgart Open last week following a positive test for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
The 30-year-old won three matches in Stuttgart before losing in the semi-finals and this week re-entered the WTA rankings at a lowly 262.
As a result, the five-time Grand Slam champion has to rely on wildcards from tournaments to enter leading WTA tournaments. The cut-off ranking for Wimbledon qualifying entry will be around 200.
"We have a long established process for awarding wildcards. We consider requests for wildcards two weeks before the tournament," All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis told reporters at Wimbledon.
"There will be a meeting on June 20 at which point it will be clear who has been accepted into the main draw based on rankings. No decision will be made until June 20. We will wait until all the facts are known," Lewis added.
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