PARIS: France’s Lucas Pouille, ranked 22 in the world, on Monday withdrew from the Australian Open as he continues to recover from an elbow injury.

“It’s a massive disappointment for me to announced that I will not be able to take part in the first-ever ATP Cup event or the Adelaide tournament and above all I will not participate in the Australian Open,” Pouille announced.

The 25-year-old Dubai-based player ended his 2019 season in mid-October because of an injury to his right elbow which also saw him miss the Davis Cup.

“As you can imagine, I’m extremely disappointed and sad to mis the start of the year, but the season is long, the career is long and now my goal is to be 100 per cent competitive as quickly as possible,” said Pouille, who reached a career-high 10th place ranking in March 2018.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2019