Maria Sharapova, a former French Open champion has withdrawn from this year’s tournament because of a shoulder problem.
She has not played since pulling out of an event in her native Russia at the end of January.
She told the BBC, “Sometimes the right decisions aren’t always the easiest ones,”
Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner, who won the French title in 2012 and 2014, returned to the tour in April 2017 after she was banned for 15 months for taking a banned drug.
In the opening Grand Slam of this year, the Russian could not go beyond the round of 16 as she was beaten by Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in the round of 16.
This year’s French Open begins on 26 May and runs to 9 June.
