Wimbledon qualifying place for Sharapova

Maria Sharapova booked her place at next month’s Wimbledon qualifying event by beating Christina McHale in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The 30-year-old will move into the top 200 in the world rankings after seeing off American McHale 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 35 minutes.

That is enough to earn Sharapova direct entry into Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton, while she could still earn a place in the main draw if she reaches the semi-finals in Rome this week.

Sharapova, playing at her third WTA Tour event since returning from a 15-month doping ban, found herself 3-1 down in the early stages against McHale but hit back to claim the first set.

The 2004 Wimbledon champion and a three-time winner of this event, raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and comfortably served out to clinch victory.

The Russian will take on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second round.