I’ll be at the U.S. Open later this month, but apparently Maria Sharapova will not.
A U.S. Open official told Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press that Sharapova’s shoulder injury will force her to miss the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.
The official spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity because Sharapova had yet to publicly announce her withdrawal Friday.
Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam winner, announced on her Website that she’ll miss the Beijing Olympics.
“This is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts to me say that I have to miss the Olympics,” she wrote.
In other tennis news, Rafael Nadal can become the world’s No. 1 if he wins the Cincinnati Masters this week after Roger Federer lost in the third round.
Despite the fact that Nadal has won 31 straight matches, including the French Open and Wimbledon finals over Federer, we expect Fed to come back strong at the Beijing Olympics and in Flushing at the U.S. Open. Look for extended Open coverage here and at SNY.tv as the the year’s final Grand Slam approaches.
