Sharapova made to wait

Wimbledon chiefs will wait until June 20, just days ahead of the qualifying event, before deciding whether to give a wildcard to former champion Maria Sharapova as she steps up her return from a doping ban.

The Russian, who won Wimbledon in 2004, made her return to competitive tennis at the Stuttgart Open last week following a positive test for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.

She admitted taking the drug, but said her only mistake was not realising the substance had been added to the banned list at the start of 2016.

Sharapova was handed a two-year suspension, which was reduced to 15 months on appeal, and she was a wildcard entry in Stuttgart, an event backed by one of her major sponsors Porsche.

The 30-year-old won three matches in Stuttgart before losing in the semi-finals and this week re-entered the WTA rankings at a lowly 262.

As a result, the five-time Grand Slam champion has to rely on wildcards from tournaments to enter leading WTA tournaments.

The cut-off ranking for Wimbledon qualifying entry will be around 200.

With Sharapova due to compete in the Madrid and Italian Opens, All England Club officials will wait to see if she makes that target, or even qualifies for the main draw by climbing into the top 100, before worrying about the wildcard issue.