Maria Sharapova is still recovering from her shoulder injury

Maria Sharapova is still recovering from her shoulder injury and she won’t play tennis until January exhibition in Hong Kong, but that doesn’t mean the world No.6 is not keeping herself busy. Her latest use of this free time includes a special Sony Ericsson promotion in British Hello! magazine.

In an interview for Hello! Sharapova discusses the long-undiagnosed injury which forced her to miss a significant part of the 2008 season.

Maria, it must have come as something of a shock to discover that you'd been playing with an undiagnosed tear in you shoulder…

I had an MRI scan in April because I was starting to feel it again, but they said it didn't show much apart from inflammation. After a while, though, the pain was still there.

How did the experts miss it?

Good question. I've basically been playing with a torn rotator cuff for maybe seven or eight months.

It must have affected your game…

Obviously, it it always on your mind. You are always trying to compete at the highest level, and when you're told it's a little inflammation, you think it's not that bad, but then when you find out how bad it it, it becomes a concern and you're afraid of making it worse.

Enjoy more of Maria’s modeling after the cut. By the way, the shoot took place in New York.