A despondent Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics yesterday with a shoulder injury, depriving the Games of one of its biggest stars.
Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday after a marathon second-round win over Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in her right shoulder.
“I’m currently packing up real quick to hop on a plane to New York for a second opinion but I wanted to let you all know first that there is no chance of me competing in Beijing,” she said on her official Web site. “The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything.”
The world No. 3’s match against Domachowska was her first since her disappointing performance at Wimbledon, where she was dumped out by fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round.
“After Wednesday’s match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder,” she said on the Web site. “After taking a few different exams and MRIs, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.”
The Games tennis event starts on Aug. 10.
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