Maria Sharapova joins walking wounded ahead of US Open
As the countdown to the US Open begins in earnest, Maria Sharapova has joined the growing ranks of the stars who will be fighting for fitness ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam.
The world No. 12 has pulled out of the Rogers Cup in Montreal due to a heel injury, which flared during the final of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati.
Sharapova lost that match to comeback queen Kim Clijsters, who lived up to her credentials to fight back from a set behind to take the 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory in the rain interrupted match.
“Kim is such a great champion and really showed it after the rain delay,” Sharapova said on her website. “I felt some pain in my foot late in the second set which kind of scared me so I have been forced to pull out of Montreal. I am hoping I just need a few days of rest.”
It’s an injury that couldn’t have come at a worse time for Sharapova, who has reached two consecutive finals on hard courts this summer (losing to Victoria Azarenka in the Stanford decider before squandering three match points in the final against Clijsters in Cincinnati). It’s a run that saw Sharapova claim her first top-10 victories of the year, and surely placed her among the genuine contenders for the US Open title once again in 2010 as she builds top form once again.
But the triple Grand Slam champion is not the only big name facing a race for fitness before the August 30th start date in New York.
World No. 1 Serena Williams has been laid low with a foot injury sustained soon after her Wimbledon win when she cut her foot on a broken glass while in a restaurant, subsequently undergoing surgery to repair the damage from that incident.
With no mention at this stage of a wildcard into the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale tournament in New Haven, it looks like Williams will be heading to Flushing Meadows without having played a WTA Tour match between the Wimbledon final and the beginning of the US Open, provided she’s fit in time to play at all.
Sister Venus Williams, currently ranked as the world No. 5, is faring no better on the injury front, the knee injury that kept her away from Cincinnati last week keeping her away from Montreal as well. It’s a situation that means Venus too could arrive in New York without having played a match in the weeks between Wimbledon and the US Open.
French Open runner-up Sam Stosur is another whose preparations have been interrupted by injury, with arm soreness keeping her away from the action in Cincinnati and Montreal as well, although the Australian has played in Stanford and San Diego this summer, and has accepted a wildcard to play at New Haven the week before the US Open.
Stosur will join former world No. 1, and current world No. 39, Ana Ivanovic in the field as a wildcard, provided the Serb overcomes an ankle injury she sustained in the Cincinnati semi-finals last week.
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