Sharapova pulls out of Wimbledon qualifying due to thigh injury

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the Wimbledon qualifying event after failing to recover from a thigh injury.

The 30-year-old sustained the injury during her second-round match at the Italian Open on May 16.

After being denied a wildcard for the French Open on her return from a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova was due to play in the Wimbledon qualifying event in the hope of making it to the main draw after being rejected a wild card for the third major of the season as well.

The injury has also forced Sharapova to withdraw from the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, for which she had been granted a wild card.

Confirming the news, the five-time Grand Slam champion said that the additional scan had revealed that she had suffered from a muscle tear, thus ruling her out of the upcoming grass court tournaments.

"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 wrote on her official Facebook account.

Sharapova, who made a return without a ranking in April and has since then risen to 211 in the world after receiving wildcards in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome, further insisted that she would continue to work on her recovery to make a successful return in her next tournament in Stanford.

"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," the Guardian quoted Sharapova, as saying.

Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton will start on June 26 with the main event beginning July 3.

In April at the Stuttgart Open, Sharapova played her first match since her quarter-final defeat to World number one Serena Williams at the 2016 Australian Open, where she was tested positive for banned substance Meldonium.

Her earlier two-year ban was reduced to 15 months following an appeal to the court of arbitration for sport, which concluded she had not intended to cheat.