Maria Sharapova withdraws from Olympics

World number three Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics on Thursday after an MRI scan on her right shoulder revealed two small tears.

Sharapova admitted the problem had been getting worse for some time and was advised to go for scans to discover the extent of the injury.

"After yesterdays match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder. After taking a few different exams and MRI's this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder. There are so many mixed feelings because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve which could have ultimately been much more serious but after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem. But on the other hand this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics. I'm currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to NY for a second opinion but I wanted to let all of you know first that there's no chance of me competing in Beijing. The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything." - said Maria on her website.

Sharapova is also a doubt for the US Open, which starts on 25 August in New York.

(source Maria Sharapova website, photo/REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)