After missing the past two Grand Slam tournaments - last year's U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open - Sharapova pulled out of this week's indoor event in Paris, and next week's hard-court event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The earliest she expects to be back is a month from now: Her next scheduled event, according to the WTA Tour's Web site, is the March 11-22 tournament in Indian Wells, California.
Sharapova wrote on her Web site last week that she is "aiming'' to return at that event or the March 25-April 4 tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida, "depending on how things shape up.''
"I cannot wait to get back to playing tournaments,'' the three-time Grand Slam champion wrote.
Sharapova has not played competitively since pulling out of a tournament in Montreal in late July after winning a nearly three-hour match in which she double-faulted 17 times. The right-hander was examined by a trainer midway through the three-set victory, and she withdrew from the event before her next match.
Medical tests later found a torn rotator cuff tendon in her shoulder.
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