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Glum Maria Sharapova steps out in cropped dungarees in LA... as the Olympics kick off without her due to tennis ban

Published: 05:55 EST, 5 August 2016 | Updated: 06:26 EST, 5 August 2016

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She was hoping to be part of the Olympic Games celebrations in Rio de Janeiro.

But Maria Sharapova, 29, had to console herself with a simple stroll through LA's Venice Beach on Thursday afternoon.

The blonde beauty was spotted cutting a solitary figure as she stepped out alone in Los Angeles, while the official festivities kicked-off on the other side of the world.

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Missing out: Maria Sharapova was spotted cutting a solitary figure as she stepped out alone in Los Angeles on Thursday, while the Rio Olympics kicked-off on the other side of the world

Going for a low-key approach, the tennis player wore a pair of cropped dungarees - despite the soaring California temperatures.

She matched this with a simple white T-shirt and a pair of black and white trainers, for a fully monochrome ensemble.

Scraping her hair back into a casual side ponytail, the Russian sports star shunned make-up for a fresh-faced finish.

Keeping busy? Hiding behind a pair of designer sunglasses, she looked rather glum as she seemed to busy herself with displacement tasks

Hiding behind a pair of designer sunglasses, she looked rather glum as she seemed to busy herself with displacement tasks.

The sighting comes after she was forced to miss the Rio Olympics after her appeal against an International Tennis Federation drugs ban was postponed until September.

The 29-year-old, who tested positive for meldonium in January, had hoped the Court of Arbitration for Sport could hear her case by July 18, the deadline for teams to be finalised for Rio.

Good times instead: Maria has been keen to show herself having fun with pals in LA

But with both the ITF and Sharapova needing more time to prepare their cases, CAS has revealed its decision will not be delivered until September 19, a month after the Olympics and a week after the final grand slam of the season, the US Open.

Sharapova, who has won five Grand Slam titles and the silver medal at London 2012, was given a two-year suspension by an ITF disciplinary panel on June 6.

She argued that she had been using the Latvian-made heart disease drug under medical advice for a decade and had not realised it had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) banned list on January 1 2016.

But the panel dismissed this explanation, pointing out that meldonium had been on WADA's 'watch list' of controversial drugs for over a year and there had been numerous warnings to athletes about it becoming prohibited in late 2015.