Russian third seed Maria Sharapova withdrew from the US Open on Sunday with a right leg injury, easing the path to a calendar-year Grand Slam for top-ranked Serena Williams. US Open tournament director David Brewer announced Sharapova's exit, which allowed qualifying lucky loser Daria Kasatkina of Russia into the draw in Sharapova's place.
"Unfortunately I will not be able to compete in this years US Open," Sharapova said in a Twitter posting. "I have done everything possible to be ready but it was just not enough time. "To all my amazing fans, I will be back in the Asian swing in a few weeks and look forward to finishing the year healthy and strong." Sharapova had been the highest-seeded rival in Williams' half of the US Open draw, a status that now belongs to seventh-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic, a possible semi-final foe for the 33-year-old American.
Williams is trying to complete the first Grand Slam calendar-year title sweep since Steffi Graf in 1988 and match Graf's Open Era-record of 22 Slam singles crowns. Sharapova had not played a match since losing to Williams in a Wimbledon semi-final last month because of the injury, which she said had been a day-to-day thing since it happened. "Dealing with these nagging things, it's almost like a day-to-day process," Sharapova said on Saturday. "When you are facing something with the body it's always a day-to-day process."
Williams is 18-2 all-time against Sharapova and has won their past 17 meetings in a row. Prior to pulling out of the tournament for the second time in three years, Sharapova described the injury as "just a muscle strain". "I've done everything I could to be ready," Sharapova said. "There's nothing more that I could have done." Sharapova did make the publicity rounds in the days before the US Open, including a photo shoot with a New York taxi and many of her rivals that noted her position at the front, well away from Williams and ex-boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov. "Time-wise it has been the same for me as it has the last seven or eight years," said Sharapova of her publicity outings.
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