Shoulder injury ends Sharapova's season

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- No. 3-ranked Maria Sharapova said she won't play in any more tennis tournaments this year because of a right shoulder injury.

Sharapova on Monday officially withdrew from the season-ending WTA Championships because of the injury. She's played just three matches since a loss in the French Open final.

"I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play in the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships this year," Sharapova said in a statement on her website. "The fans in Istanbul have welcomed us each year with such intense passion and warmth, I will sincerely miss the energy and excitement they brought to the year-end tournament.

"I want to thank Istanbul for being a tremendous host and hope to play in Turkey sometime in the future."

Sharapova was beaten in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships and dropped a second-round match -- after a first-round bye -- in Cincinnati. She missed the U.S. Open entirely.

After the loss at Wimbledon, she fired coach Thomas Hogstedt and was for a very short time coached by Jimmy Connors.

Sharapova ends the year with a 37-7 record and two tournament titles. She won at Stuttgart, Germany, in April and at Indian Wells, Calif., in March. Three of her 2013 losses were to world No. 1 Serena Williams in tournament finals, including at the French Open.

Sharapova, who was the runner-up to Williams in the WTA Championships last year, had qualified for this year's WTA Championships, which are scheduled for later this month. Williams and Victoria Azarenka also earlier qualified.

The WTA on Monday said Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani and Jelena Jankovic would be among the eight players invited to the tournament.