Tennis | Major miss for Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova will sit out the U.S. Open because of a bad right shoulder, the first major championship she'll miss since her Grand Slam debut in 2003.

The three-time Grand Slam title winner already had announced she's pulling out of the Beijing Olympics because of the injury. Sharapova said in a posting on her Web site Friday she probably won't need surgery and could be ready to play in two to three months.

"It hurts me so much to miss the Olympics and the U.S. Open, you have no idea," she wrote.

The No. 3-ranked Sharapova has played in each of the past 23 major championships, winning titles at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in January.

A doctor who looked at tests on her shoulder from April and this week told Sharapova she has been playing with a torn rotator cuff tendon since the spring.

"You can imagine that I was not very thrilled to hear that my medical team did not see this tear in my shoulder back in April," she said.

Nadal will be No. 1

MASON, Ohio — For Rafael Nadal, moving up to No. 1 is just a matter of time.

The 22-year-old Spaniard made a change at the top inevitable by advancing to the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters. He beat Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 for his 32nd straight win, setting up a seismic shift in the world rankings.

Nadal would take over the top spot in next week's rankings if he wins the tournament. Even if he fails, he has piled up enough points in Cincinnati to overtake Roger Federer when the rankings come out on Aug. 18.

"Getting No. 1 is a present for a lot of work in the past, so it's satisfying," he said.

Nadal plays third-seeded Novak Djokovic in today's semifinals. The other semifinal matches eighth-seeded Andy Murray against Ivo Karlovic, who knocked Federer out of the tournament on Thursday.

Other events

• Jelena Jankovic was upset by 19-year-old Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-2 at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, losing yet another opportunity to claim the women's top ranking.

Jankovic could have claimed the No. 1 spot from Ana Ivanovic if she had reached the final. It was her fourth such chance this year, but she has lost each time — in the semifinals at the French Open, the round of 16 at Wimbledon and the semifinals last week in Carson, Calif.

• Tommy Haas, Sam Querrey, Donald Young, Ashley Harkleroad and Alexandra Stevenson are among those entered in Sunday's inaugural Shotgun 21 World Championships, a tennis competition where men and women will play each other. The one-day tournament in Pacific Palisades, Calif., offers a purse of more than $20,000 in prize money. There are several significant rule changes from traditional tennis, including no overhand serve.