Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova has been dealt a big injury blow after being ruled out for the entirety of the grass court season.
The 30-year-old, who recently returned to the sport following a 15-month doping ban, was due to go down the qualifying route to take part at Wimbledon next month.
Sharapova sustained a muscle injury in Rome last month that will keep her out of action until the hard court season, however, meaning that she will also sit out the AEGON Classic in Birmingham - an event for which she was recently given a wildcard entry.
"After an additional scan, the muscle tear that I sustained in Rome will unfortunately not allow me to compete in the grass court tournaments I was scheduled to play," she posted on her official Facebook page.
"I want to thank the LTA for their amazing support on my return and providing me with a Birmingham wildcard, a tournament which I hope many of you will be able to attend. I look forward to meeting you there next year.
"I will continue to work on my recovery and my next scheduled tournament is in Stanford."
Sharapova marked her return to action in April with a run to the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open, before making it through to the last 32 of the Madrid Open.
