Maria Sharapova was on Wednesday given an Australia Open wildcard, having slipped to 147 in the rankings and outside automatic qualification. The Australian Open website announced the news adding that the former number one will attempt to “regain some of the form that won her the title in 2008”.
As per the announcement, tournament director Craig Tiley revealed Sharapova will receive a wildcard entry as she attempts to improve her current world ranking of No.147.
The five-time grand slam champion tweeted a “thank you” while retweeting the announcement of her wildcard entry made on the official account of the Australian Open.
Thank you!! 😊☀️🎾 https://t.co/efp9joWeOd
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) January 8, 2020
Sharapova has been plagued by a recurring shoulder injury which kept her out of action on the court the past year. She suffered the injury in January 2019 and had undergone surgery in February. The 32-year-old had to pull out of the French Open due to the nagging injury. She has not played competitive tennis since her first round loss to Serena Williams at the US Open last year until the Brisbane International, where she crashed out in the first round.
The Russian is expected to mark her presence at Melbourne despite “fighting virus for a couple of weeks” which caused her early exit from the Brisbane event and even landed her in the hospital.
“I've been fighting virus for a couple weeks and ended up in the hospital the other day, so that wasn't fun. I just couldn't keep anything in (but) that's the extent that I'm going to share with you,” Sharapova said after her first round loss to Jennifer Brady of the US at the Brisbane International.
“It was a long match. I think this is going to be a good test for my shoulder, not so much right now, but maybe tomorrow and the day after to see how I feel.
“I definitely lost speed on it and strength toward the end of the match, but that comes with time. I have to be patient with that.”
The Australian Open will begin from January 20 at Melbourne Park.
