Maria Sharapova is shedding more details about her 2008 shoulder injury as the Russian tennis icon admits she started "mentally beating myself up" when the first concerns came that she was misdiagnosed.
In the spring of 2008, Sharapova missed the Miami Open due to a shoulder issue. While the former world No. 1 managed to start her clay season in time, her results were inconsistent and she was visibly struggling. After picking up a shock Wimbledon second-round defeat - withdrawing from the Beijing Olympics - and pulling out of her Montreal round-of-16 match - the 2004 Wimbledon champion decided to fully focus on determining what was the exact issue with her shoulder.
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And after seeing specialist David Elchek, Sharapova finally got her answer and then it was confirmed that it wasn't just a small issue.
Sharapova: I started mentally beating up myself because I knew for months that there was a problem
"I was misdiagnosed with my shoulder injury for quite some time... I had this pain, and no one could quite point it out. They said, 'Oh, you have tendinitis and overuse, and you have very flexible shoulders and joints.' It wasnt until several months of just beating myself up mentally that I know there is a problem, that David Elchek found this flap in my tendon," the former world No. 1 recalled on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
"For three months, I am serving and I'm getting this nauseating pain and that for sure affected my confidence, my speed and even my recovery, because all I could think about was that once I was getting up there and my shoulder was right next to my ear, that I'm going to feel the sharp pain go through my body."
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After undergoing surgery, Sharapova was sidelined for nine months. While the surgery itself was a success and she achieved some great results afterward, the former five-time Grand Slam champion's shoulder issues never went fully away. Just before retiring from pro tennis, she had her second shoulder surgery in 2019.
