Maria Sharapova has decided to end her 2018 season early to recover from an injury. She has pulled out of the China Open in Beijing, the Tianjin Open, where she was the defending champion, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
“Unfortunately as I recover from my right shoulder injury, I am withdrawing from Beijing, Tianjin and Moscow. I will miss competing at each of these tournaments, but it is important that I allow for proper rest and recovery in the upcoming weeks,” she was quoted as saying by the WTA.
Her last match of the season was a fourth-round loss at the US Open, going down 4-6, 3-6 to Carla Suarez Navarro. She has not won a single title this year.
Sharapova, ranked 24th in the world, added “I am disappointed that I won’t be able to play in front of all of the fans in Tianjin again and I hope to be able to play there in the future. I wish everyone at the tournament a successful five-year anniversary.”
The former world no 1 Russian has not had the best of seasons in 2018 as she struggled in the grass and hard court swing, with a disappointing return to Grand Slam tennis since April 2017 after the end of her suspension in a doping case.
She made the fourth round in New York last year and third round at the Australian Open earlier this year. She had a good clay season reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open before a shock first-round loss to Vitalia Diatchenko at Wimbledon.
She will be aiming to start her 2019 season at the Shenzhen Open.