Nishikori to miss rest of season with wrist injury

CINCINNATI: World number nine Kei Nishikori of Japan will miss the remainder of the 2017 ATP season after suffering a torn tendon in his right wrist, his management team announced Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Asian number one will miss the upcoming US Open, on the New York hardcourts where he has produced his best Grand Slam results -- a 2014 runner-up finish and a semi-final run last year.

Nishikori becomes the third top-10 player to conclude his season early, joining Serbian 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, out with an elbow injury, and Swiss 2016 US Open champion Stan Wawrinka with a knee injury.

A statement from Nishikori's team said the injury took place during a practice session at Cincinnati ahead of this week's ATP Masters hardcourt event, the last major US Open tune-up.

The decision to end Nishikori's season came after advice was sought from five wrist specialists and with hope he can return in top form in 2018.

"Two days ago during practice in Cincinnati, Kei hit a serve and heard a 'pop' in his wrist," the statement read.

"We went straight to the hospital to take an MRI. Yesterday, we went to see a very renowned wrist specialist who works with many of the Major League Baseball pitchers. We saw another specialist today to get a second opinion. On top of that we have sent MRI results to three other wrist specialists to ensure we get several independent opinions from specialist.

"After consulting with all of them, it has become clear that Kei has a tear in one of the tendons in the right wrist. At this stage, we have elected not to do surgery and Kei is in a cast.

"After the swelling comes down in the next weeks, we will evaluate next steps. Kei will withdraw from all the 2017 tournaments and work hard to be ready for next year."

Brazilian Thiago Monteiro will replace Nishikori in the US Open main draw when the year's last Grand Slam tournament begins August 28, organizers said.

Nishikori concludes the 2017 season with a 30-13 match record. His best finishes were runner-up showings at Brisbane in January and the Argentina Open in February.

In the Grand Slams, Nishikori reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, losing in five sets to eventual champion Roger Federer, falling in the French Open quarter-finals to Britain's top-ranked Andy Murray and ousted in the third round at Wimbledon by Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

Nishikori's last match of the campaign was a three-set loss to Frenchman Gael Monfils in his opener last week at Montreal.

Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky has withdrawn from the U.S. Open due to a lingering hand injury, the world number 24 has said.

Bacsinszky, who will also miss this month's Connecticut Open in New Haven, was carrying a thigh injury during Wimbledon last month but said on Wednesday she had also been troubled by her hand since last year.

"Unfortunately, I was forced to pull out of New Haven and the U.S. Open," Bacsinszky, who reached the French Open semi-finals earlier this year, said on her Instagram account.

"My thigh is now much better, but I still need to undertake a few exams for my hand. I cannot express how sad I am to announce such bad news, but my priority... is to let my body heal completely and take all the time needed in order to do so."

The U.S. Open runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10 at Flushing Meadows, New York.

NEW DELHI: India's Leander Paes and his German partner Alexander Zverev went down to the Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in a men's doubles first round match to bow out of the Cincinnati Open.

The Indo-German pair fought hard before losing 6-2 6(2)-7 6-10 to their Spanish rivals in a closely-fought contest, which lasted an hour and 21 minutes.

The Spaniards will next take on fourth seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the second round.

Meanwhile, Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig of Croatia have got a first round bye.

CINCINNATI: Wimbledon and Australian Open runner-up Venus Williams is preparing this week for the US Open and to become a new aunt with sister Serena giving birth to a baby soon.

Ninth-ranked Venus advanced Tuesday to the second round at the WTA Cincinnati Open by eliminating US compatriot Alison Riske 6-2, 6-0 in 66 minutes.

But off the court, she's doing some online shopping for Serena's baby, and getting some valuable advice from her mother, Oracene Price, who has raised five daughters.

"I have a lot of things in my cart that I'm about to order," Venus Williams said. "I talked to my mom yesterday. I'm like, 'Mom, what do you really, really need?' So she really gave me the low-down.

"So I'm going to get this stuff and as things progress I'll see what I need after."

Serena and her fiancee, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have said they plan to keep the sex of the baby a surprise until birth.

Serena, 35, was pregnant when she beat Venus, 37, in an Australian Open final that was more all-Williams than either knew, winning a 23rd career Grand Slam singles crown, one shy of Margaret Court's all-time record.

In April, Serena revealed on social media that she was pregnant. She is expected to give birth in about another month.

With Serena sidelined, seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus has picked up the family mantle and turned back the clock, making a run to the Wimbledon final last month, losing to Spain's Garbine Muguruza in a bid for her first Slam crown since 2008.

Venus, who won five Wimbledon and two US Open titles, has been an aunt before, but not when she was old enough to do some serious spoiling and spending on the new arrival.

"This is the first time I've been an aunt as an adult," she said. "So it's a completely different experience than before when I was a child."

After a third-round exit in Toronto last week, Williams hopes to put the final fine tuning on her game this week ahead of the year's final Grand Slam that begins August 28 in New York.

"I just want to play free and feel confident. That's important," Williams said. "I need to play my best at all the big events.

"Today was about being measured and being patient and trying to just capitalize on the match."

Williams, who won her 49th career WTA singles crown last year at Kaohsiung, said she doesn't feel pressure to win the title this week.

"Not really, but I want to (feel that pressure)," she said. "I want to win every match. The aim is to get out there and be better every single time."