We knew that chances of Maria Sharapova playing the 2019 French Open were slim to none, but we still hoped that her right shoulder would be in good shape. Now the inevitable has been made official — the two-time champion will not play in Paris because of an ongoing recovery process after a small procedure on her shoulder done in February.
The five-time major winner informed her fan base on Instagram:
Withdrawing from the French Open today. Sometimes the right decisions aren’t the easiest ones. In better news, I have returned to the practice court, and slowly building the strength back in my shoulder. I’ll really miss you Paris, until next year.
The last tournament Sharapova played was the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy at the end of January, when shoulder woes forced her pull out of the event after completing just one match.
The following month, she gave us the details:
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. Although this has been a very long process, I am incredibly committed to getting back strong and more importantly without the pain I was playing with at the beginning of the year.
As you know, Nike has already created a lovely floral dress for Masha’s appearance in Paris, but this is far from the first time that the tennis superstar has her dedicated Grand Slam outfit that will be left to collect dust in the closet.
I guess the Nike Flora dress will be worn by the clans (Bencic, Tomljanovic, Anisimova)