Advertisement

Injured Agassi Drops Out Again : Tennis: He won’t play in Grand Slam Cup because of torn chest cartilage suffered in Davis Cup finals.

Share
From Reuters

Andre Agassi, who pulled out of the Grand Slam Cup tennis tournament and then changed his mind after being threatened with a lawsuit, has withdrawn again because of an injury, his agent said Tuesday.

Agassi defaulted against Darren Cahill during a singles match Sunday after the United States already had an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the Davis Cup final against Australia.

His injury was initially described as a torn muscle under the breast bone, but his agent said it had since been diagnosed as torn cartilage in the chest.

Advertisement

Bob Kain of International Management Group, which represents Agassi, said the U.S. Open and French Open runner-up has been forced to pull out of a couple of exhibitions in Europe as well as the Grand Slam Cup.

“He regrets he cannot fulfill his obligations to the Grand Slam Cup,” Kain said in a statement.

Agassi is expected to be out of action three to six weeks.

The world’s No. 4 player originally signed to play in next week’s $6-million tournament run by the International Tennis Federation but then pulled out.

Last Friday he said he would reluctantly take part in the competition in Munich because of the threat of being barred from one or more of next year’s Grand Slam tournaments and of facing lawsuits for reneging on his commitment.

His place in the elite 16-player event will be taken by Brad Gilbert, who is the first alternate on the list of players ranked by their performance in the world’s four major tournaments.

The Cup, with a first prize of $2 million, will feature Grand Slam champions Ivan Lendl, Andres Gomez, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras. Boris Becker and John McEnroe are among the players who declined to compete.

Advertisement
Advertisement