New mum Azarenka to return next month

Madrid - Victoria Azarenka looks set to make Wimbledon after announcing on Wednesday she will return to tennis at the Mallorca Open next month, six months after giving birth to son Leo.

The 27-year-old Belarusian, a former world number one and two-time Australian Open champion, will play her first tournament in over a year at the Mallorca Open.

"I really want to play again and it will be special to do so in a place as incredible as Mallorca," she said in a statement on the website of the Mallorca Open, a Wimbledon warm-up tournament that begins on June 18.

Azarenka launched her 2016 campaign with back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and Miami, but missed the rest of the season after announcing she was to give birth in December.

Wimbledon begins on July 3.