Maria to 'shut it down' for season

Maria Sharapova announced on her Web site Friday that she will not play again this season, ending speculation that she might come back for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships Nov. 4-9 in Doha, Qatar.

Sharapova has been sidelined with a torn rotator cuff that was discovered shortly after she lost in the second round at Wimbledon � her earliest exit from that tournament. She played one match in her next tournament, the Rogers Cup in Montreal, then withdrew because of the shoulder injury. Doctors determined she had sustained the tear in April.

Sharapova has been rehabilitating the injury in Phoenix. "I've been progressing really well," she wrote on her Web site, "but it's taking a lot longer than I had selfishly planned. Therefore my team and I decided to 'shut it down' for the season."

Sharapova, 21, has won three Grand Slam singles titles � Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. According to Forbes magazine, she is the world's highest-paid female athlete.