Sharapova to learn Wimbledon wild-card fate on June 20
LONDON >> Maria Sharapova may have to wait until June 20 to see if she will be welcomed back to this year’s tournament at Wimbledon.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion at the All England Club, returned to the WTA Tour last week after serving a 15-month ban for doping and reached the semifinals in Stuttgart, leaving her ranked No. 262.
Sharapova is set to play two more tournaments, in Madrid and Rome, before the deadline for direct entry to Wimbledon qualifying. Deep runs at those events could earn her enough points to make the main draw, while she will also find out on May 16 if she gets a wild card for the French Open.
Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis said Wednesday there will be a meeting of the tournament’s tennis sub-committee on June 20, when it will be clear which players have been accepted into the main draw. Wimbledon begins July 3, its latest start since 1895.
Andy Murray, the world’s topranked men’s player, said he expects Sharapova to be granted a wild card if she needs one.
“But I’m sure they are hoping they don’t have to make the decision,” Murray said Tuesday at the launch of the Queen’s Club tournament, a warm-up event for Wimbledon. “There’s a good chance that she can get in by right, which I’m sure is what she’s hoping for and that’s what Wimbledon would be hoping for.”
Lewis said qualifying at nearby Roehampton would be a ticketed event for the first time, and that action on one of the courts will be broadcast live. He said this was not linked to the possible appearance of Sharapova, but because of the upsurge in interest in qualifying matches.
Also, All England Club chairman Philip Brook said two-time Wimbledon finalist Ilie Nastase will not be invited to the Royal Box on Centre Court.
The 70-year-old Romanian has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Federation following his comments about the skin color of the baby that Serena Williams is expecting and his foul-mouthed outbursts during a recent Fed Cup match between Romania and Britain.
“What he did, we have to say, his actions were not very good and we condemn them,” Brook said.
Tourneys: Haas’ final run at BMW Open ended by Struff
MUNICH >> Veteran Tommy Haas’ last appearance at the BMW Open ended in a 6-4, 7-5 defeat to fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round on Wednesday.
Struff hit seven aces and saved five of the seven break points he faced to win in just under an hour and a half against the 39-year-old Haas, who won the clay-court tournament in 2013.
Struff goes on to a quarterfinal against No. 3 Alexander Zverev, last year’s runner-up. The 20-year-old Zverev hit five aces to beat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-4.
Earlier, German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann upset eighthseeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals. PRAGUE >> Defending champion Lucie Safarova withdrew from the Prague Open on Wednesday ahead of her second-round match against Kristyna Pliskova because of illness.
Organizers said she was ill before the tournament and her condition worsened after her 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Kristina Kucova on Tuesday.
In the quarterfinals, Pliskova will face 144th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia. The Brazilian qualifier beat fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-2.