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Sharapova to discover Wimbledon wild card fate on June 20

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova returns the ball to Kristina Mladenovic from France during the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, Saturday, April 29, 2017. (Bernd Weissbrod/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova smiles at a news conference at the WTA tennis tournament in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, April 28, 2017. (Bernd Weissbrod/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Monday, May 23, 2016, file photo, former Romanian tennis player Ilie Nastase watches a match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, France. Nastase made an attempt at apologizing for his comments about Serena Williams and his outburst during a Fed Cup match. The 70-year-old tennis great posted a statement on Facebook a week after he speculated about the skin color of the baby the pregnant Williams is expecting. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File) (The Associated Press)

Maria Sharapova will discover on June 20 if she has been granted a wild card for Wimbledon, provided she has not already qualified for the tournament.

The Russian player has returned to the WTA Tour after serving a 15-month ban for doping and reached the semifinals in Stuttgart last week in her first event back, 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 see her earn enough points to make the main draw, while she is also waiting to see if she gets a wild card for the French Open on May 16.

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.

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.