STOCKHOLM: Mark Philippoussis has pulled out of the Stockholm Open after suffering acute inflammation in his left knee.
Organisers confirmed Philippoussis, who had entered the tournament with a wild card, withdrew and would be replaced by Finnish lucky loser Jarkko Nieminen in the $US800,000 ($1.55 million) event.
The Scud was due to face former champion Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in tomorrow's opening round.
An injury cloud also hangs over top seed Magnus Norman of Sweden, who is suffering from the flu and was due to play Christian Ruud of Norway in the first round.
Norman was due to play American Jan-Michael Gambill who beat Max Mirnyi tovernight but complained of back pains and was expected to undergo treatment tomorrow.
Philippoussis pulls out of Stockholm Open
STOCKHOLM, Nov 21 AFP - Fifth seed Mark Philippoussis today pulled out of the Stockholm tennis Open after suffering an acute inflammation in his left knee.
Organisers confirmed Philippoussis, who had entered the tournament with a wild card, withdrew and would be replaced by Finnish lucky loser Jarkko Nieminen in the $US800,000 ($A1.55 million) event.
The Australian, who lost the final of the Masters Series in Paris to Russian Marat Safin in five sets on Sunday, had been due to face former champion Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in tomorrow's opening round.
There is also a cloud over top seed Magnus Norman of Sweden, who is suffering from influenza and was due to play Christian Ruud of Norway in the first round.
Norman is due to play American Jan-Michael Gambill who beat Max Mirnyi today but complained of back pains.
Gambill was to undergo treatment tomorrow in hopes of being ready to play on Thursday.
AFP
Injuries rob Scud of a chance at Masters Cup
By Michael Donaldson
SYDNEY, Nov 22 AAP - Another injury to Mark Philippoussis has diminished his chances of making the rich, season-ending Masters Cup tennis tournament next week.
Philippoussis had taken a wildcard to play the Stockholm Open this week in an effort to move up the champions race ladder and secure the alternate spot for the eight-man finale.
But the Australian was scratched from the Swedish tournament due to an inflamed knee - the same knee which troubled him at Wimbledon and forced him to pull out of Australia's Davis Cup semifinal against Brazil in Brisbane.
The injury ends a mixed month for Philippoussis, who has been injured in three of his past four tournaments, with a cricked neck forcing him out of one and a blister on his toe taking him down in another.
Philippoussis is currently ranked 11 in the champions race after finally staying fit and making the final of the Paris Master Series.
A good performance in Stockholm could have lifted him into 10th place above Tim Henman.
Swede Thomas Enqvist is currently the alternate for the Masters Cup, which has a confirmed field, in order, of Marat Safin, Gustavo Kuerten, Pete Sampras, Magnus Norman, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Lleyton Hewitt, Alex Corretja, and Andre Agassi.
The eighth place in the event is reserved for a grand slam winner who is not in the top-eight but the Agassi (8th) has said he won't play if wasn't actually ranked in leading eight.
At the moment he is only a handful of points clear of Enqvist, who could move past Agassi on points with a record-equalling fourth straight win in Stockholm.
If that scenario unfolded and Agassi pulled out, Henman would become the alternate.
But on top of that, Hewitt is in danger of missing the tournament - which falls the week before the Davis Cup final - because of a mystery illness.
That would pave the way for Philippoussis to become the first alternate and give him a chance to play should anyone else pull out with injury.
Meanwhile, following his aborted partnership with Philippoussis, Australian Pat Cash will try to revive the career of another big server in need of a lift, Greg Rusedski.
The Canadian-born Briton has turned to the 1987 Wimbledon champion after tumbling in the rankings from a career high of four two years ago, and 14th at the start of this year, to his current 63rd.
The 27-year-old Rusedski will link up with Cash at the newly established Gold Coast academy he is running in partnership with Gavin Hopper.
Ironically, Hopper has been a constant presence in the Philippoussis camp, which dispensed with Cash's services earlier this year after an 18-month union, due to a falling out over money.
Rusedski is the first player to opt for the Cash-Hopper academy.
Cash said after a 12-month delay in council approval, courts would be laid at the academy in the next two weeks.