The Russian tennis star, swapped tennis whites for a tiny red bikini as a pal filmed her “graceful” dive into the choppy water. It appears the blonde sports superstar isn’t too gutted about skipping SW19 after pulling out of the grass court season through injury. Holding her nose as she leapt into the lake, the bikini-clad former world number one looked to be in a relaxed mood amid week two of the tournament. The five-time grand slam winner shared the looped video with her 2.6 million followers on Instagram yesterday.
Sharapova shared a second Instagram post today, with the caption: “Sun kissed after a couple days on the lake. Back to work.” The former Wimbledon champion is attempting to rebuild her tennis career after being slapped with a 15-month doping ban. Having struggled with a thigh injury in June, Sharapova is next scheduled to appear at the Stanford Classic in California at the end of July. She did not apply for a main draw wildcard at Wimbledon after being turned down by the French Open.
Announcing her injury woes on Facebook last month, she wrote: “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. “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.” Now the US Open must decide whether to grant her a wildcard as her lowly ranking of 180 in the world means she does not qualify. Her return to tennis has provoked fury among several top players – including British ace Andy Murray – who have condemned the Russian as “a cheater”.
Sharapova was suspended from playing tennis for two years after testing positive for a banned substance in 2016. But her ban was reduced to 14 months and she returned to the WTA tour for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in April. Canadian tennis beauty Eugenie Bouchard Bouchard has been among her staunchest critics saying she should have been banned for life for failing the drug test.
From being a teen sensation to becoming Tennis’ poster girl, the timeless beauty Maria Sharapova bids adieu to the sport aged 32
