| | MELBOURNE, Australia -- Spanish star Carlos Moya withdrew
from the Australian Open on Monday because of the back injury that
forced him to retire from the U.S. Open.
Moya, the 1998 French Open winner and former top-ranked player,
said he didn't want to risk further damage to a stress fracture of
his vertebrae by playing in a best-of-5 sets match without adequate
practice.
"It's the same problem I had at the U.S. Open -- the difference
now is that I'm feeling a lot better," he said. "The main problem
is that I did not practice too much."
"If this tournament was best-of-3 sets, maybe I will try to
play. But after hitting half an hour -- the longest practice I had
lately -- and suddenly start playing best-of-5 sets with such a hot
day would be really difficult for me. I didn't want to take such a
risk."
Moya was scheduled to play Marc Rosset of Switzerland in a
first-round match Monday. He was replaced in the draw by Britain's
Jamie Delgardo, the lucky loser from qualifying. | |
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