摘要：曾获得2006年美网公开赛冠军的玛丽亚·莎拉波娃周日宣布，因腿部伤势退出本届美网公开赛。此前，莎拉波娃曾五次获得大满贯冠军。今年7月，她在温布尔登网球锦标赛的半决赛中被塞雷娜·威廉姆斯击败，之后便因伤势未参加任何公开赛事。
Maria Sharapova, the 2006 United States Open champion, withdrew from the Open on Sunday, citing a leg injury.
Sharapova, a five-time major winner, has not played since her semifinal loss at Wimbledon in July against Serena Williams, also withdrawing from recent tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati. Sharapova initially sustained the leg injury during training for the hardcourt swing, and she said in Cincinnati that she had aggravated the injury shortly before traveling to Canada for her first hardcourt event.
In her pretournament news conference Saturday in Flushing Meadows, Sharapova had described the injury as a muscle strain.
“You don’t always know where some things come from, but sometimes you have to make adjustments to be healthy and ready for the big ones,” Sharapova said. “I’ve had to make adjustments throughout the year, and it only gets tougher as you get older, of course.”
She added: “I’ve done everything I could to be ready. There’s nothing more that I could have done. So, yeah, I hope to be ready.”
Sharapova had been scheduled to play her first match Monday evening in Louis Armstrong Stadium against Daria Gavrilova, a rising 21-year-old Russian-Australian who is ranked 38th and had beaten Sharapova this year in Miami. Given Sharapova’s condition and Gavrilova’s ascendance, the match had been noted by many as a potential first-round upset.
Sharapova’s place in the draw will be taken by a lucky loser from the last round of qualifying, Daria Kasatkina of Russia.
The third-seeded Sharapova, 28, was the highest-seeded player whom Williams could have faced before the final as Williams looks to become the first player in 27 years to win the Grand Slam. Williams has dominated the rivalry between the two, leading it by 18-2, including victories in the last 17 matches.
Still, with few other obvious challengers to Williams’s throne, as well as intermittent off-court tension between the two, Sharapova is often cited as a primary rival.
Asked Saturday if Williams’s dominance reflected poorly on the rest of the field, Sharapova praised Williams and defended the quality of the rest of the tour.
“She’s been playing on an incredible level, and I don’t think it takes anything away from other players,” Sharapova said. “We have to step up, me and everyone else. Her level makes us want to be at a better level.”
The highest seed in the quarter of the draw that Sharapova vacated is now seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic; the highest seed in Sharapova’s eighth of the draw is 13th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, who was a semifinalist at the tournament last year. Because Sharapova’s withdrawal came after the order of play for the first day had been released, the draw will not be reshuffled, aside from the insertion of Kasatkina.
Sharapova practiced Sunday afternoon, testing her form, but she betrayed visible unease even though there was no obvious physical impairment. Several times she consulted with her coach, Sven Groeneveld, and her hitting partner, Dieter Kindlmann.
Sharapova also withdrew from the 2013 United States Open, because of a shoulder injury.
Though Sharapova will not be at the tournament herself, she will be present in virtual form, with a “You vs. Sharapova” game set up for fans by one of her sponsors, American Express. Sharapova, known for her off-court business success, had been typically active in the week before the tournament, making appearances for American Express, Nike and her candy line, Sugarpova, which has a pop-up store at Bloomingdale’s during the tournament.
“I’m getting better, I’m getting there,” Sharapova had said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s still a day-to-day thing, and I feel like I have to improve with every day and get better. I mean, I’ll be coming in with no matches since Wimbledon, which will be tough, and I think I’ll have to lower my expectations. Which, is not easy — not for me, at least. But over all, I’m a pretty optimistic individual.”
Sharapova then acknowledged that she had no idea how to lower her own expectations.
“I don’t even know,” she said, laughing. “I don’t even know, it just feels.”