Third seed Maria Sharapova of Russia has pulled out of next week’s US Open due to a shoulder injury, tournament organizers said on Wednesday.
The four-time Grand Slam winner, who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2006, fired coach Jimmy Connors last week after just one match together.
The 26-year-old world No. 3, who is suffering from inflammation in her right shoulder, said withdrawing from the year’s final Grand Slam was “a really tough decision to make.”
Photo: AFP
“I have done everything I could since Wimbledon to get myself ready, but it just wasn’t enough time,” Sharapova said in statement on her Facebook page.
“I have done many tests, received several opinions and it all comes down to taking the proper amount of time to heal my shoulder injury properly,” she wrote.
“It’s certainly not an easy decision to make ahead of one of my favourite tournaments, but I know it’s the right one that will get me back on the courts soon,” she wrote. “I plan on taking the next few weeks off, receiving proper treatment and rehabilitation.”
Sharapova lost to 20-year-old Sloane Stephens of the US in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, last week in her only match since a second-round exit at Wimbledon.
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