Maria Sharapova has been ruled out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart because of a shoulder injury she has been carrying since March.
“I was really looking forward to the Stuttgart tournament and I’m very sorry my injury hasn’t cleared up in time,” Sharapova said.
“I’ll do everything I can to return to the tour as quickly as possible.”
The fourth-ranked Russian hasn’t played since the shocking loss to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the third round of the 2007 US Open.
Sharapova is expected to make a comeback at the season-ending championships in Madrid in November.
The $650,000 Stuttgart event starts on October 1st, and nine of the world’s top ten women are scheduled to play, including defending champion Nadia Petrova. (source: BBC)
