Victoria Azarenka intends to return for grass season, play Wimbledon

There won’t be a shortage of compelling storylines at the All England Club in 2017.

Roger Federer will play the season’s third Grand Slam after skipping the French Open, Maria Sharapova will attempt to get into the main draw through qualifying and, as we discovered on Monday, Victoria Azarenka might return to the tour after an extended absence.

Azarenka, who hasn’t played since last year’s French Open, intends to play Wimbledon, which begins on July 3. The Belarusian, who will turn 28 at the end of July, announced last summer that she was pregnant. She gave birth to her first son, Leo, in December.

The two-time Australian Open champion and two-time Wimbledon semifinalist (2011 and 2012) plans to play a grass-court warm-up event prior to the Championships.

Azarenka had previously said that her goal was to return at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., at the end of July. It appears that the veteran, who’s documented her vigorous training regimen on social media, is ahead of schedule in her comeback.

The BBC reports that, under WTA rules, Azarenka is eligible to retain her No. 6 ranking if she plays a tournament within 12 months of giving birth.

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for Roland Garros to watch 200 live matches from up to five courts, starting with the Qualifying Rounds.

· Watch the Best of Roland Garros 2016 on-demand at any time

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for all of Roland Garros, as well as 650+ live events all year long

· Tennis Channel Plus is available on any streaming device, on mobile, always on the GO (desktop, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire)
· Subscribe today at BuyTCPlus.com