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Third-seed Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the U.S. Open, it was announced today. Tournament director David Brewer made an official announcement following a post by the Russian ace to her Facebook page.
Unfortunately I will not be able to compete in this years US Open. I have done everything possible to be ready but it...
Posted by Maria Sharapova on Sunday, 30 August 2015
She announced that she had still not recovered from her chronic knee injury, and would not be fit to play the tournament. It is not the first tournament this year she has missed due to injury, withdrawing from the Rogers Cup earlier this year with the same issue. The 28-year-old has not played a tournament since Wimbledon this year, where she was routed by World No. 1 Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
She had been due to play World No. 37 Daria Gavrilova of Russia, whom she has played twice before, with the two winning one match apiece. The 21-year-old beat Sharapova at their previous hard court meeting, at the Miami Masters earlier this year.
Sharapova’s exit from the tournament means 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina of Russia now gets a U.S. Open berth. Kasatkina is already a Grand Slam winner, albeit at the junior level, following her French Open victory in 2014. She was crowned the Junior Singles champion at Roland Garros last year, defeating top-seeded Ivana Jorovic.
The older Russian was immensely disappointed with the injury, expressing her disappointment following a practice session. In an entry on her personal blog, she wrote “I am not only finished with practice, but my 2015 US Open is finished without any beginning. It’s my little secret but I don’t want to let anyone down.”
