France’s Amelie Mauresmo and China’s Na Li won’t play at the US Open which starts August 27.
As expected, former world number one Amelie Mauresmo has pulled out of the final Grand Slam of the year in order to fully recover from a groin injury and to get her motivation back in the meantime. This is only a continuation of a tough 2007, in which Mauresmo endured a two-month lay-off with appendicitis after which her results on court have been much worse than usual.
Mauresmo hasn’t played any competitive tennis since the Fed Cup in July, while the last regular tournament she played was Wimbledon where her title defence ended with a fourth-round defeat by Czech Nicole Vaidisova. However, we might see her at the China Open in the second half of September.
World No. 21 Na Li has withdrawn because of a rib injury which has been bothering her since the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Birmingham. So, the US Open is the second consecutive Grand Slam that the best-ranked Chinese player must skip.
The WTA tour is not the same without Mauresmo and Li; I hope they will fully recover soon. (via BBC, Reuters)