Petkovic and Venus Williams withdraw from Australian Open

With the 2012 Australian Open just around the corner, the tournament withdrawals are mounting. Today, the No. 10 seed, Andrea Petkovic of Germany withdrew with a stress fracture in her lower back. The injury could keep her sidelined for two months.

Petkovic lost 7-5, 6-4 to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in a second-round match at the Sydney International on Tuesday. She needed an injury time-out during the match to receive treatment from a trainer.

Serena Williams withdraws unexpectedly from China Open

The former World No. 1, Serena Williams of the USA, and 2011 U.S. Open runner-up has pulled out of the China Open for a second year in a row.

Serena was scheduled to play in Beijing, but the tournament website said the American star failed to show up on Friday, the day she was due to arrive.

Venus Williams withdraws from the U.S. Open

Two-time champion Venus Williams of the USA has withdrawn from the U.S. Open due to an illness.

Williams was scheduled to play 22nd-seeded Sabine Lisicki in the 2nd round.

In a statement afterward, she said: “I have been recently diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease which is an ongoing medical condition that affects my energy level and causes fatigue and joint pain.”

The 31-year-old 36th ranked Williams pulled out of two hard-court tuneup tournaments this summer because of a virus. In her first match in two months, Williams beat 91 ranked Vesna Dolonts of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in round one at Flushing Meadows on Monday.

Serena Williams withdraws from Australian Open

Two-time defending champion, Serena Williams, has withdrawn from the 2011 Australian Open, according to tournament director Craig Tiley.

Williams is blaming her foot injury for the withdrawal. It is the 2nd consecutive Grand Slam tournament that Williams will miss, and the loss of 2000 ranking points will cost her her place in the top 10 rankings.

Williams has played only one exhibition match since winning Wimbledon in July. She had surgery after cutting her foot on broken glass at a restaurant following her win at the All England Club. She returned to practice in September, but twice put off her comeback, missing the U.S. Open, the season-ending WTA tournament, the Fed Cup and a handful of tour events.

Serena Williams pulls out of China Open, may lose No. 1 ranking

World No. 1 Serena Williams of the USA has pulled out of yet another tournament, the China Open in Beijing while she continues to recover from surgery on her right foot. The injury will keep her from competing at the Pan Pacific Open and China Open tournaments over the next two weeks.

At the beginning of the week, the 13-time Grand Slam champion revealed to fans on her website that she had stopped wearing a protective boot around her injured foot. “While I have continued to make progress in the recovery of my foot injury, unfortunately I am still not ready to compete at the upcoming Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and China Open in Beijing,” Williams said in a statement.

Serena Williams pulls out of Pan Pacific Open. Surprised?

Tournament organizers say top-ranked Serena Williams has pulled out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo scheduled for Sept. 26-Oct. 2.

Most of us are probably not surprised this time, since this is the fifth tournament Serena has missed since cutting her foot on some glass in an accident at a restaurant back in July. It doesn’t seem to really be news anymore when she pulls out of a tournament. Many don’t expect her to play. It will be news if she ever returns to action.

Clijsters Withdraws from French Open

Kim Clijsters of Belgium has officially withdrawn as of Friday from the upcoming French Open because of a foot injury suffered during Fed Cup play last month. Though she has resumed hitting, despite her efforts to recover in time for the major tournament, the injury hasn’t fully healed and she has opted to skip the competition.

A CT scan today revealed the injury was healing, but fluid is still building up around her ankle and she has opted to miss the second grand slam of the year and end her clay-court season.

Sharapova, Safina, and Serena Williams Drop Out of Sony Ericsson Open

Two of the top Russian tennis players in the world, Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina, plus the current No. 1 ranked player in the world, Serena Williams of the United States, have all withdrawn from the 2010 WTA Sony Ericsson Open running in Miami, Florida, USA on March 23 – Apr. 4 because of injuries.

Sharapova, who won earlier this year in Memphis and was looking forward to playing in Miami for the first time since 2007, was forced to withdraw after an MRI revealed a bone bruise on her right elbow. She is expected to miss 3-6 weeks of competition.

Patty Schnyder Retires In Quarterfinals

No. 2 seed, Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, pulled out of the 2009 WTA Tour Internazionali Femminili di Palermo being played in Palermo, Italy July 13-19, 2009.

Schnyder had breezed through the first two rounds, defeating Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia, 6-4, 6-0, and Nuria Llaqostera Vives of Spain 6-2, 6-2. That put her up against Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany in the Quarterfinals, where she retired in the first set trailing 3-4.

It was an all Italy final at the Italian tournament, pitting No. 1 seed and 13th ranked, Flavia Pennetta against No. 38 ranked Sara Errani. Pennetta came out the winner, 6-1, 6-2.

Ana Ivanovic pulls out of 2008 Olympics

My # 1 cutie pie, Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia has pulled out of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China because of a thumb injury according to The Sports Network.

Ana says she has inflammation in her right thumb, but she’s hoping to play in the U.S. Open later this month. “I’ve been struggling with it,” said Ivanovic of her injury. “For the past month I’ve been receiving so much treatment and I’ve been doing everything to recover after Montreal, where I really wasn’t able to play. After there, it was so painful. I took some time off and haven’t played a tournament in 10 days. Even yesterday, we flew a doctor in from Australia to help with my hand.”