(Reuters) – Third-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova has pulled out of next week’s U.S. Open due to a shoulder injury, tournament organisers said yesterday.
“Maria has informed us that she will be unable to compete at the US Open this year due to a right shoulder bursitis and has withdrawn from the tournament,” tournament director David Brewer said in a statement.
“We wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to her return to New York next year.” The four-times grand slam winner, who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2006, fired coach Jimmy Connors last week after just one match together.
Sharapova lost to 20-year-old American Sloane Stephens in the second round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati last week.
Defending champion Serena Williams is the top seed for the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows in New York, ahead of Belarussia’s Victoria Azarenka and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who now moves up to third.
