Tennis: Maria Sharapova has confirmed she will miss the US Open and the Olympics as she battles a shoulder injury.
The Russian revealed last night she would not travel to Beijing and followed that up today by announcing she will also sit out the final grand slam event of the year.
The 2006 Flushing Meadows champion has suffered a moderate tear in her rotator cuff.
"It hurts me so much to miss the Olympics and the US Open, you have no idea, just to type those words hurt!," she wrote on her website, www.mariasharapova.com. "I think this will be the first grand slam I have ever missed."
Sharapova admits she has been playing with the injury since April.
She beat Marta Domachowska of Poland in the second round at the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday but then withdrew due to injury.
It is not thought the 21-year-old will need surgery but she is likely to be out of action for up to three months.