Injured Sharapova withdraws from Miami Open

February 28, 2019 | 13:08

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MIAMI: Maria Sharapova withdrew from next month's Miami Open on Wednesday (Feb 27) following surgery last week to repair her injured right shoulder, tournament organisers said.

injured sharapova withdraws from miami open

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next month's Miami Open after undergoing shoulder surgery. (AFP/OLGA MALTSEVA)

"We are sad to announce that @mariasharapova has withdrawn as she heals from a right shoulder procedure she underwent last week," a Miami Open post on Twitter said.

"We wish Maria a speedy recovery and look forward to having her back in Miami in 2020!"

In a statement on the WTA website, the 31-year-old Russian star said she had undergone a "small procedure" in an attempt to fix a longstanding shoulder problem.

"As many of you know, I have struggled with shoulder pain since last summer. For ten weeks post US Open, I focused on getting my rotator cuff and scapula strong to support a surgically repaired fraying tendon and a small labrum tear. Although my shoulder got strong, it didn't help the pain on impact.

"After a few different opinions in a few different countries, last week I had a small procedure done which will take a few weeks to heal."

Sharapova had already withdrawn from next week's WTA Indian Wells event citing the shoulder injury.

Sharapova has been struggling back to top fitness since watching from the sidelines during her 15-month doping ban that ended in 2017.

The former world number one missed out on a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals last month, but insisted she still believes she can increase her tally of five Slam titles.

AFP

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