Maria Sharapova made another pre-emptive strike on Friday when she announced that she would not be seeking a wildcard into Wimbledon’s main draw.

It amounts to one of Maria Sharapova’s smarter public relations moves in the whole saga, for there was no chance she would be receiving one from the All England Club anyway.

The 30-year-old Russian therefore saved herself not just the embarrassment of a refusal, but the distraction of further speculation leading up to the relevant meeting at SW19 on June 20.

All England Club sources say senior figures there have been receiving emails from her agent, Max Eisenbud, lobbying on her behalf.

However, it must have been clear that the likes of Tim Henman, Chairman of the tennis sub-committee, was so set against promoting her from the qualifying draw that applying would be a waste of time.

Realistically, once the French Open turned her down earlier this week due to her coming back from a doping offence there was no way Wimbledon would move in the opposite direction.
Culled from Mail Sport