Sharapova to miss Wimbledon qualifying

Originally published on 13/06/17 00:00

The five-time Grand Slam champion was expected to return to action at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham next week after accepting a wildcard into the tournament, but she has been forced to delay her latest comeback until the North American hard-court season begins later this summer.

Sharapova, who will also miss the Wimbledon qualifying event in Roehampton, wrote on her Facebook page: “After an additional scan, the muscle tear that I sustained in Rome will unfortunately not allow me to compete in the grass-court tournaments I was scheduled to play.”

The Russian sustained her injury in a second -ound contest with Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and she was unable to continue after just three games in the deciding set.

The 30-year-old added: “I want to thank the LTA for their amazing support on my return and providing me with a Birmingham wildcard – a tournament which I hope many of you will be able to attend. I look forward to meeting you there next year. I will continue to work on my recovery and my next scheduled tournament is in Stanford.”

This year’s Wimbledon qualifying event may not have Sharapova competing as expected, but it will still be available to watch on the Wimbledon website.

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