Wimbledon deny they snubbed Sharapova

Wimbledon organizers have dismissed suggestions that former champion Maria Sharapova was absent from Center Court’s recent centenary celebrations due to her nationality.

Sharapova was not among the many names presented at the iconic venue on Sunday as Wimbledon celebrated the 100th anniversary of one of tennis’ most iconic venues.

The Parade of Champions featured 26 former Wimbledon winners, including 12 former All England Club champions.

But while the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams were all in attendance, one star conspicuous by their absence was Sharapova.

The Russian achieved one of the most impressive title wins in Wimbledon history when she won the women’s singles crown in 2004, defeating Serena Williams when she was just 17 years old.

Sharapova would win four more Grand Slams in her career – two at the French Open and one each at the US and Australian Opens.

Fans and pundits were quick to note her absence from the Wimbledon parade, which reportedly extended to Sharapova not being included in a video montage of iconic center court moments.

There was immediate speculation that Sharapova may have been shunned over the ban Wimbledon has imposed on Russian and Belarusian players over the conflict in Ukraine.

However, the daily MailBosses at the All England Club have dismissed the notion.

The news outlet says organizers would not confirm whether or not the retired Sharapova had been invited, saying they only asked one-time winners who they were “Knew at the tournament or didn’t have to travel far.”

They also explained Sharapova’s omission of video clips by saying that Mondays “were not long enough to include all past champions”, The mail said.

Whether or not Sharapova, 35, would have attended the ceremony is another question considering she announced back in April that she was pregnant with her first child.

All current Russian and Belarusian players are absent from this year’s Wimbledon after organizers claimed there was potential “Propaganda” A boost for the Russian leadership if they had been invited.

The All England Club also referred to UK government guidelines when banning the men’s world number one Daniil Medvedev from the pitch.

This attitude has made Wimbledon an outlier in tennis, where other Grand Slams and the WTA and ATP tours have allowed Russians and Belarusians to appear under neutral status.

The WTA and ATP punished Wimbledon by stripping ranking points from this year’s event, while it was recently revealed that the WTA has fined the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and the All England Club a combined total of $1 million over the ban had occupied.