The organizers of the Chennai Open have confirmed that Kevin Anderson has withdrawn from the tournament due to a left knee injury.
The injury is not a new issue for Anderson. During a press conference he said that he had experienced this issue for a long time and has decided to withdraw from the tournament based on the advice of his medical team. There is currently no indication that the knee problem will impact on his participation at the upcoming Australian Open, which begins on January 18th.
“It’s something that I’ve had for a lot of years. I was training very hard in December and also had an extensive travel, so could be the result of the pressure on the knee”, Anderson said.
“Obviously disappointed to not be competing here, not just here in Chennai, but also the first tournament of the year for me. But me and my medical team took the decision keeping in mind the schedule” He added
The withdrawal of the second seed means that India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan will now play lucky loser Alexander Kudryavtsev in his second round match.
Anderson is the latest player to join a rapidly growing casualty list on both the WTA and ATP Tour. Other injured players include Serena Williams (knee), Maria Sharapova (forearm), Simona Halep (leg), Tommy Haas (shoulder) and Janko Tipsarevic (foot).
