The squeals and shrieks of Russian cutie pie, Maria Sharapova, will be missing from the 2009 Australian Open Tournament. She has withdrawn from the event claiming she just has not had enough training time since her shoulder injury sidelined her last season.
At MariaSharapova.com, she explains, “I am very sorry to announce that I am not going to be able to defend my title at this year’s Australian Open. My shoulder is doing great, but I just started training a few weeks ago and I am just not near the level I need to be to compete at the highest levels.”
Last year she won her third Grand Slam at the Australian Open without dropping a set. It sounds to me like she is just afraid to lose. What better training would there be than to go out and compete? If her shoulder is really doing great, why not go out and give it a workout?
A true competitor needs to be able to deal with wins and losses. If she were saying that her shoulder just was not ready, I would understand. But she says her shoulder is doing great. Then, why not play tennis instead of playing chicken?
