There is a huge question-mark over Maria Sharapova’s participation in the 2019 French Open after she decided to withdraw from the Rome Open as well.
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Sharapova hasn’t played since the St. Petersburg Open earlier this year, having only featured at the Shenzhen Open and the Australian Open before that. She made it as far as the fourth round of the Australian Open but a shoulder injury has forced her to miss multiple tournaments following that.
In February, the former Grand Slam winner had said she needed a small procedure which would need a few week to overcome but had also expressed hope of participating at the Miami Open. She missed that event and then failed to make it to the Stuttgart Open after that.
And now that Sharapova has withdrawn from the Italian Open as well, there are serious questions over whether Sharapova would be fit enough to participate at the French Open. World number 45 Viktoria Kuzmova will take Sharapova’s spot in the main draw in Rome.
The French Open, which begins on May 26, is the only Grand Slam tournament that Sharapova has won more than once – her title wins in 2012 and 2014 coming four and six years after she had last won a Grand Slam elsewhere.
Sharapova’s last WTA title came in Tianjin in 2017 following which her best performance in any tournament was the semi-final she featured in at the Italian Open last year.
A quarter-final appearance at the French Open following that would have been a pleasing result but things haven’t looked as well the Russian would have liked after that showing.
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