[bigboydan]

why don't andre just retire

Ankle keeps Agassi out of Australian Open
Associated Press
Posted: 5 hours ago

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Andre Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open on Thursday due to a lingering ankle injury, his management company said in a statement.

Agassi Enterprises Inc. issued a statement in Australia saying Agassi had withdrawn from both the Kooyong exhibition event next week and the Australian Open beginning Jan. 16. He is a four-time Australian Open champion.
Agassi, 35, sustained a third-degree sprain to his left ankle on Oct. 12 playing racquetball, and the injury forced his withdrawal from the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in November.

"I attempted to play in Shanghai with an injury that was not fully healed, and it set me back substantially," Agassi said in the statement. "I made a commitment to myself not to play unless I can be at my absolute best. Unfortunately, even with the amount of training and rehabilitation I've been going through, my ankle is still not 100 percent.

"These two tournaments mean a great deal to me. I'm disappointed that I will not be able to start the season in Melbourne, but I plan to return to the court as soon as my ankle is fully recovered."

Agassi finished 2005 ranked No. 7 by the ATP. He won his only title in Los Angeles and had a 38-12 match record. He lost to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the U.S. Open final.

Earlier Thursday, world No. 2 and French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain pulled out of next week's Sydney International with an ongoing left foot problem, and his place at the Australian Open is in doubt.

Defending Australian Open champion Marat Safin has been carrying injuries for several months and pulled out of the Hopman Cup team event for Russia. Safin has knee tendinitis that has sidelined him for five months.

In another Hopman Cup-related injury, Germany's Nicolas Kiefer had to withdraw from his team's match against the Netherlands on Thursday, although he says he hopes to be fit for the Australian Open.

Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova is also a questionable starter for Melbourne with a strained right shoulder. And Jelena Dokic was forced to withdraw Thursday from an Australian Open tuneup event in Canberra next week due to a recurrence of an injury to her left abductor muscle.