Following an impressive return from injury Maria Sharapova will take to the Wimbledon grass courts hoping to replicate her 2004 success.

Two years ago the Russian stunner Sharapova was the highest profile, highest earning  female athlete on the planet, arguably of all time, with an annual income in excess of 25 million dollars.

If you´d  picked up a magazine, chances are, Sharapova would be in it or on it, on the cover of Sports Illustrated or FHM, or advertising beauty products in Vogue or Cosmopolitan.

And best of all, she could actually deliver on the court. Anyone who saw her announce herself to the rest of the world when as an unknown 17 year old, she completely annihilated the previously invincible Serena Williams, 6-1 6-4 with an awesome display of controlled power tennis, will testify to that.

By mid 2005 Sharapova was world number 1, claiming the US Open in 2006, and the Australian Open in January of last year.

However at the peak of her success a chronic shoulder injury was beginning to seriously hamper her serve. In September of last year she announced she would take the rest of the year off. During that time she underwent a number of operations on her shoulder and didn’t pick up a tennis racket for seven months.

In May of this year, Maria Sharapova returned to the courts. She had been out of the game for almost eleven months, and she was ranked 126 in the world. Two quarterfinals and a semi last week in Edgbaston have shown flashes of the Sharapova of old.

Sharapova's ground strokes, always the cornerstone of her game, are starting to look ominous again and the 22 years old is now up to number 59 in the world. She is not over the hill, She is not out of shape and she certainly shouldn't be ruled out of Wimbledon 2009. 

Maria Sharapova is currently 8/1 latest odds with Stan James to win the 2009 Wimbledon womens singles title and complete a fairytale comeback.