Maria Sharapova will play qualifiers instead of requesting Wimbledon wildcard

05/19/2017

Maria Sharapova has said she will not request a wildcard for Wimbledon after failing to gain a high enough ranking for direct entry to the main draw, but would rather play the qualifiers. The Russian star was denied a wildcard entry to Roland Garros on moral grounds by the French officials.

The now 30-year old is currently ranked 211, below the cutoff for direct entry into the Wimbledon main draw. However, she won her first round fixture at the Rome Masters this week which assures a place in the qualifying tournament before Wimbledon.

In a statement on her official website Sharapova wrote, “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.”

Sharapova returned from a doping ban last month and though the Wimbledon committee which meets on June 20th could have granted the Russian a wildcard into this year’s tournament at SW19, Sharapova would have needed to reach the semi-finals in Rome to climb high enough to gain a spot in the main Wimbledon draw, but she withdrew during her second round match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni after a left hamstring injury.

Wimbledon was Sharapova's rise to fame after the Russian won the tournament as a teenager way back in 2004.