The Canadian Press
MONTREAL–World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka is pulling out of the upcoming Rogers Cup in Montreal due to a knee injury he says has been bothering him all season.
Wawrinka said on his Facebook page that he is missing the Rogers Cup, and a following Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, until his knee is 100 percent, possibly in time for the U.S. Open, where he is the defending champ.
He tried to play with the sore knee at Wimbledon last month, only to lose in the first round.
“After much backwards and forwards and consultations with my doctors and my team, unfortunately I have decided to skip Canada and Cincinnati to be on the safe side even though I’ve been battling hard to make these events,” Wawrinka posted on Facebook.
“Hugely disappointing for my fans and myself that I have to make this decision, but I need to be 100 percent confident before I resume competition ’til the injury that plagued me in Wimbeldon has been resolved,” he added.
“My team and I are doing everything possible to make this a speedy recovery.”
The Swiss will miss the tournament for the first time since 2012 due to a knee injury.
He was a semi-finalist in Toronto last year.
“Stan has always been loyal to our tournament and we’re obviously disappointed he won’t be here this year,” Eugene Lapierre, tournament director of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, said in a statement.
“Stan is one of the best players in the world, and we wish him a quick recovery and best of luck for the rest of the season.”
As a result of Wawrinka’s withdrawal, Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic now will be seeded eighth and receive a first-round bye.
Raonic will be seeking his first Masters 1000 title.
American John Isner, meanwhile, now will round out the top 16 seeds at No. 16.
Isner has won two tournaments in a row in Newport and Atlanta.
