New York - Maria Sharapova took to the television commentary booth during a one-day visit to the US Open, saying she is prepared for another few months of intense shoulder rehabilitation. The 21-year-old Russian was forced out of the major and the Beijing Olympics by a tear in her rotator cuff, a long-running problem that doctors did not properly catch in a scan last spring.
Now Sharapova is rehabilitating in Arizona, returning to her three-to-four hour daily grind on Tuesday in hopes of pulling up fit for the 2009 WTA season.
"I played with pain a majority of the time," the current Australian Open champion said. "Even sleeping and in everyday things, I still feel it."
Sharapova said the problem she first felt in March got worse last month in a match in Canada. "I knew it was more than just inflammation. Doctors then found two minor tears."
The three-time Grand Slam champion called the whole farcical situation "frustrating."
"If this had been properly diagnosed it would have been treatment months ago and maybe I wouldn't have missed the Olympics and the US Open. I can get by without surgery, but it's a long process."
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Bangalore event off after Indian security dramas
New York - Next month's new ATP event in the southern Indian city of Bangalore has been cancelled due to security concerns after a spate of deadly bombings in the troubled area.
The ATP confirmed that local organizers raised the alarm for the safety of the tournament that had been shifted to the country's high- tech centre after being played for two years in Mumbai.
"The ATP board can confirm that it has regrettably accepted a petition from the Bangalore Open to suspend the 2008 event due to the local promoter's security concerns," an ATP statement read.
The 400,000 dollars in prize money will be paid into the player pension fund instead.
Bangalore was rattled by a political bombing in late July, with another bomb exploding a day later in the western city of Ahmedabad, claiming up to 50 victims.
By contrast, a regular ATP event in Bangkok was played without problems two years ago after a peaceful coup in the country which left tanks and soldiers on the streets of the capital.
