By Xinhua,
Beijing : World number three women’s tennis player Maria Sharapova has announced on her website that she is pulling out of the Beijing Olympics due to a right shoulder injury.
“After Wednesday’s match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder,” said Sharapova, who gave a walk-over to Japanese Ai Sugiyama in the third round of the Montreal Cup Thursday.
“After taking a few exams and MRIs this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder. I’m currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to New York for a second opinion, but I wanted to let all of you know first that there’s no chance of me competing in Beijing.
“There are so many mixed feelings because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
“But after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem.
“But on the other hand this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics.”
Playing her first match since a shock second-round defeat by compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva at Wimbledon in June, Sharapova twice received treatment on her shoulder during her three-hour battle with Poland’s Marta Domachowska in Montreal Wednesday.
“The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything,” she added.
The tennis competition at the Olympic Games is scheduled for Aug 11-17.