Maria Sharapova to miss entire grass court season including Wimbledon qualifying

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from Wimbledon qualifying due to a muscle injury, which will sideline the former world No 1 for the entirety of the grass court season.

The 30-year-old was due to compete in the qualifying event at Roehampton later this month, but her hopes of making the main draw are now over.

Sharapova, the five-time Grand Slam winner, who returned from an imposed absence after serving a 15-month doping ban will now have to wait until the hard court season for her next competitive action.

Sharapova was also set to play at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham, a key warm-up event for Wimbledon, after receiving a wildcard for the tournament but the 2004 Wimbledon champion announced the extent of a muscle injury she sustained in Rome last month had forced her to pull out.

"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," Sharapova posted in a Facebook message.

"I want to thank the LTA for their amazing support on my return and providing me with a Birmingham wild card, 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."

After her ban expired, Sharapova returned to competition in April at the Stuttgart Open, reaching the semi-finals, and progressed to the last 32 of the Madrid Open.

However, she failed to earn a qualifying spot for the French Open and was then denied a wild card into the main draw by Roland Garros organisers despite being a two-time champion.

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