Kuznetsova joins US Open withdrawals

New York: Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, heads a group of players who joined Rafael Nadal in withdrawing from the final major tournament of the tennis season.

Kuznetsova, 27, who also won the 2009 French Open, was 48th in the latest WTA Tour rankings. Also withdrawing from the women’s draw are top-20 players Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Flavia Pennetta of Italy, and Elena Baltacha of Britain.

The US Tennis Association (USTA) didn’t give a reason for the withdrawals ahead of the US Open, which begins on August 27 at the National Tennis Centre in New York.

Nadal, an 11-time Grand Slam winner, said last week that injuries would prevent him from playing in the US Open, which he won in 2010. France’s Gael Monfils, Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela and Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero also withdrew from the men’s draw, the USTA said on Monday.

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