Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has announced she will not seek a wild card entry to the main Wimbledon draw and intends to try and progress through qualifying for the grand slam event.

The Russian returned to competitive action in April after serving a 15-month ban for failing a drugs test at the 2016 Australian Open.

A five-time slam winner, the 30-year-old was recently denied a wildcard entry to next month’s French Open but will not be relying on that route to try and claim a berth at the all England Club in July.