Maria Sharapova to Return to Toronto After Wimbledon Retirement

Former world No. 1, Maria Sharapova suffered from a nagging shoulder injury, which forced her to miss the tour for four months before returning on the grass. The Russian however retired in the third set of her opening-round match at Wimbledon Championships 2019 due to tendon problem in her left forearm.

Nevertheless, Maria Sharapova will return to the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, USA. Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams were given wild card entries for the summer hard court events before the commencement of the 2019 US Open.

Maria and Venus are two of the greatest champions in tennis history,”  Western & Southern Open director, Andre Silva said in a statement. “We look forward to both joining our world-class field.”

Sharapova will make an appearance at the Rogers Cup for the eighth time in her career. Her best performance was reaching the final in 2009. She reached the 3rd round in the last edition of the event in Montreal.

The five-time Grand Slam champion will head to Cincinnati in the following week, playing the event for the first time since 2014. She will participate at the Western & Southern Open for the fifth time. Her best result was clinching the title in  2011. While she reached the semifinals in her last appearance at the event.

Maria Sharapova last won a WTA singles title at the Tianjin Open in China in October 2017. She has conquered only one title in the past four years which led to a drop in her rankings to no. 82 in the WTA rankings.

After retiring from her opening match at the Wimbledon Championships, Maria Sharapova said, “I got myself into a good enough place to be part of this event and this is not what I wanted. I’ve had a history of a tendon problem in my left forearm and it flared up in the first set.”

“I’m still proud that I’m here. This is not the easy way. I think the easy way would be just for me to maybe do other things,” she said.

Sharapova further added, “I’ve never taken the easy route. I’ve always worked, committed, focused. Like I said, these moments are hard, but I love what I do. I still have a lot of passion for it.”