The 30-year-old Russian Tennis star is one of the prominent names of women's tennis despite being at a center of a huge controversy. After 15 months of forced time off as a result of failing a drug test back in January 2016, Maria Sharapova saw herself in a position to regain a bright spot in the ranking after she received several wild-card entries into some big WTA events.
But her successful past couldn't ensure a smooth path to the top only through itself. Sharapova made her comeback during the clay court swing, and the sudden return to action took its tool with her ending up getting an injury in the early stages in Rome.
That put a stop to the clay court swing for the Russian who won't compete at the french open. Roland Garros's organizers decided not to give her a wild-card while her current ranking isn't enough not even for playing the qualifying stages.
A decent run on clay could get even brighter during the grass season
Over the past month, Sharapova saw her name in the main draw of three WTA events. The first one was in Stuttgart, then in Madrid with the event in Rome closing the door. In Stuttgart, she reached the semis before losing to Kristina Mladenovic.
Madrid brought in some extra heat as Sharapova collided with Eugenie Bouchard who put in some of the noisy criticism. In Rome, the amount of time and the overloaded schedule forced her to retire with an injury.
Having no hopes on what's left of the clay court swing, the Russian will shift focus towards the grass session where she could deliver some great tennis. While the herd will still be in recovery after a long clay schedule, Sharapova could step in and steal the show.
Sharapova is willing to play in the qualifying stages of Wimbledon
There is a possibility that Wimbledon's organizers will follow the example from Paris and won't allow Sharapova a clean entry in the main draw via wild-card.
Being aware of that scenario, the 2004 Wimbledon champion stated that this gives her no other choice than playing in the qualifying rounds.
A former no. 1 of the WTA ranking and five-times Grand Slam champion, Sharapova is currently ranked as the world no. 211. Starting from Monday, her ranking will improve to around 170th spot.
Regarding her grass court schedule, she is set to play in Birmingham as she was given a wild-card entry for the event. Being a Premier event ensures some degree of quality which might be just what Sharapova will need to reach her peak on the grass court.
