Maria Sharapova returns to the WTA rankings for the first time since serving a 15-month doping ban

Sharapova's run to the semi-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix see her return to the rankings as the World No 262, the first time she has been outside the top 100 since 2009

Sharapova has reentered the WTA rankings for the first time since her doping ban (Getty )

Maria Sharapova has re-entered the WTA rankings as World No 262 after reaching the semi-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix last week.

Sharapova was controversially handed a wild card for the tournament, with her 15-month ban for testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open ending two days after the tournament began on April 26.

She began the tournament in formidable form and defeated Roberta Vinci, Ekaterina Makarova and Anett Kontaveit without dropping a set en route to the semi-finals.


 Sharapova eventually lost in Stuttgart to Kristina Mladenovic 
 (Getty)

However, on Saturday she was beaten in three-sets by France’s Kristina Mladenovic, who had also been given a wild card into the tournament.

“At the start of the week if I’d thought I’d be playing three two-set matches and making the semi-finals I would be pretty happy with that,’ said Sharapova after her defeat.

“You are never sure what level you are going to come onto the court with, but I feel this is a great base with which I started here.”

Sharapova’s 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Mladenovic guaranteed her a ranking outside the top 200, meaning she is not immediately eligible for a place in the qualifying round of Roland-Garros.

Sharapova must now rely on a wild card to compete in either qualifying or the main draw, with the French Open beginning on May 28.

The French Tennis Federation will announce whether Sharapova – who won the French Open in 2012 and 2014 – has been given a wild card or not on May 16.


 Sharapova won the French Open in 2012 and 2014 
 (Getty)

The five-time Grand Slam winner has not been ranked outside the top 100 since 2009, when she was ranked a lowly 102^nd in the world after missing nine months of the season with a shoulder injury.

She has been ranked as the World No 1 a grand total of five times, for a grand total of 21 weeks. That’s some way short of her principal rival Serena Williams, who has been World No 1 on eight occasions for a total of 218 weeks.