Agassi out of Aus Open

[TigerFan]

Ankle forces Agassi out of Austrailian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Andre Agassi pulled out of the Australian Open on Wednesday because of a lingering ankle injury.

Agassi, 35, sprained his left ankle playing racquetball on Oct. 12, and aggravated the injury during the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where he was upset in the first round.

He also withdrew Wednesday from next week's Kooyong exhibition event.

"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. "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 percent.

"These two tournaments 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."

Agassi, a four-time Australian Open champion, finished 2005 ranked No. 7 by the ATP. He won his only title in Los Angeles and had a 38-12 match record. He lost to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the U.S. Open final.

Earlier Thursday, second-ranked and French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain pulled out of next week's Sydney International with an ongoing left foot problem, and his status for the Australian Open was uncertain.

Defending Australian Open champion Marat Safin has been struggling with injuries for several months and pulled out of the Hopman Cup team event for Russia. Safin has knee tendinitis that has sidelined him for five months. Also, Nicolas Kiefer had to withdraw from Germany's Hopman Cup match against the Netherlands on Thursday, although he says he hopes to play in the Australian Open.

Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova is also a questionable starter for Melbourne with a strained right shoulder, and Jelena Dokic pulled out of an event in Canberra next week due to a recurrence of an muscle injury on her left side.

I hate to say it, but we might have seen the last of one of the very best

 

[Muffo]

Good, i never liked him anyway.

 

[Funkalicous]

I like the guy. He has a great attitude, and always shows repect to his opponents. However, he had no chance of winning the Aus Open this year. Even if Safin is out, there's no way he'd get past Nadal or Federer.