Maria Sharapova will try to jump-start her season in the desert.
The five-time Grand Slam champion has received a wild card into next month's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
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It will be Sharapova's first Dubai appearance since 2006 when she beat Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport back-to-back before bowing to then world No. 4 Justine Henin in the final.
“Maria Sharapova is one of the most famous athletes in the world, and in 2014 she became the first tennis player, male or female, to pass 15 million fans on Facebook" said Tournament Director Salah Tahlak. “It is a pleasure to welcome such a popular player back to Dubai and we look forward to seeing how she fares against so many other contenders for the title."
The 41st-ranked Russian opened the season reaching the Shenzhen semifinals where she fell to 47th-ranked Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
In a highly-hyped battle of former world No. 1 champions, Angelique Kerber crushed Sharapova, 6-1, 6-3, in the Australian Open third round.
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