Agassi drops-out of Australian

Open Four-time Australian Open champion Andre Agassi succumbed to a long-standing ankle injury and officially withdrew from the first Grand Slam event of the year, his management company said yesterday.

The 35-year-old American tennis great, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, sustained the injury playing racquetball with a friend last October and has not recovered in time to make the trip to Melbourne for the Open, which starts on January 16. Organisers, who had dreaded Agassi’s withdrawal, received more bad news when world number two Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Sydney International tournament with a foot injury, raising doubts about his appearance in Melbourne.Agassi, who had a 26-match winning streak at the Australian Open before he lost to Marat Safin in the semi-finals of the 2004 tournament, attempted to play with the injury in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in November, but withdrew immediately after losing his first round-robin match.”I attempted to play in Shanghai with an injury that was not fully healed, and it set me back substantially,” Agassi said in a statement released by Agassi Enterprises Inc.”I made a commitment to myself not to play unless I can be at my absolute best.”Unfortunately, even with the amount of training and rehabilitation I’ve been going through, my ankle is still not 100 per cent,” he said.”These two tournaments (the lead-up Kooyong International and the Australian Open) mean a great deal to me.”I’m disappointed that I will not be able to start the season in Melbourne, but I plan to return to the court as soon as my ankle is fully recovered.”Nadal is battling to be ready for the Australian Open as he continues to be troubled by a left foot injury he sustained during the Madrid Masters final last October and which forced him out of the seasing-ending event in Shanghai.Nadal informed Sydney tournament officials that he would not be fit enough to play in next week’s event.”I am very sorry that I cannot play in Sydney because I was looking forward to coming there for the first time,” Nadal said in a statement released by tournament organisers.”The tournament is very strong and it would have been exciting to play there.”Maybe I would have played against Lleyton (Hewitt) and that would have been very good – we have exciting matches.”His uncle and coach Toni Nadal said on the player’s website: “Rafa has recovered from the injury to his foot but the change of support pressure points, because of the insoles, have caused muscle strain and that is the problem that makes us doubtful for Australia.”We will only travel if he is fully fit.We cannot play thinking of getting through one round.”Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee said Nadal’s management had told him he was a 50-50 chance of playing in the Open, but he gave the Spaniard little hope of playing.”I’m not optimistic now.I do think he might miss …there’s no doubt,” McNamee said.”Fifty-fifty is not a great stat really given my experience.”Nadal had a phenomenal 2005 during which he won 10 titles, including the French Open, to hold the number two ranking behind Switzerland’s Roger Federer.McNamee said yesterday he had heard nothing from either defending Australian Open champion Safin (knee injury) and Russian Maria Sharapova (shoulder) about their availability for the Open.”I’m sure that by Monday or Tuesday there will be a lot of information because if you’re not on a plane by Monday I don’t think you’re playing,” he said.- Nampa-AFPOrganisers, who had dreaded Agassi’s withdrawal, received more bad news when world number two Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Sydney International tournament with a foot injury, raising doubts about his appearance in Melbourne.Agassi, who had a 26-match winning streak at the Australian Open before he lost to Marat Safin in the semi-finals of the 2004 tournament, attempted to play with the injury in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in November, but withdrew immediately after losing his first round-robin match.”I attempted to play in Shanghai with an injury that was not fully healed, and it set me back substantially,” Agassi said in a statement released by Agassi Enterprises Inc.”I made a commitment to myself not to play unless I can be at my absolute best.”Unfortunately, even with the amount of training and rehabilitation I’ve been going through, my ankle is still not 100 per cent,” he said.”These two tournaments (the lead-up Kooyong International and the Australian Open) mean a great deal to me.”I’m disappointed that I will not be able to start the season in Melbourne, but I plan to return to the court as soon as my ankle is fully recovered.”Nadal is battling to be ready for the Australian Open as he continues to be troubled by a left foot injury he sustained during the Madrid Masters final last October and which forced him out of the seasing-ending event in Shanghai.Nadal informed Sydney tournament officials that he would not be fit enough to play in next week’s event.”I am very sorry that I cannot play in Sydney because I was looking forward to coming there for the first time,” Nadal said in a statement released by tournament organisers.”The tournament is very strong and it would have been exciting to play there.”Maybe I would have played against Lleyton (Hewitt) and that would have been very good – we have exciting matches.”His uncle and coach Toni Nadal said on the player’s website: “Rafa has recovered from the injury to his foot but the change of support pressure points, because of the insoles, have caused muscle strain and that is the problem that makes us doubtful for Australia.”We will only travel if he is fully fit.We cannot play thinking of getting through one round.”Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee said Nadal’s management had told him he was a 50-50 chance of playing in the Open, but he gave the Spaniard little hope of playing.”I’m not optimistic now.I do think he might miss …there’s no doubt,” McNamee said.”Fifty-fifty is not a great stat really given my experience.”Nadal had a phenomenal 2005 during which he won 10 titles, including the French Open, to hold the number two ranking behind Switzerland’s Roger Federer.McNamee said yesterday he had heard nothing from either defending Australian Open champion Safin (knee injury) and Russian Maria Sharapova (shoulder) about their availability for the Open.”I’m sure that by Monday or Tuesday there will be a lot of information because if you’re not on a plane by Monday I don’t think you’re playing,” he said.- Nampa-AFP