Kanepi Withdraws from Tournament of Champions
Top Estonian tennis player Kaia Kanepi has announced that she will pull out of next week's Tournament of Champions in Sofia due to continuing problems with heel pain.
The 27-year-old, who is currently ranked 19th in the WTA, had been one of eight women who qualified for the exclusive event, along with Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams, Nadia Petrova, Roberta Vinci, Hsieh Su-Wei, Zheng Jie and Daniela Hantuchova. Williams has also withdrawn, citing prior commitments in South Africa.
Earlier this month Kanepi also canceled her participation in the Kremlin Cup. At the time she said that Sofia was an uncertainty.
"After tough practices my right heel still hurts. If I qualify for Sofia, of course I would like to play. But there is nothing certain. I just want my legs to be OK. I am doing physical trainings and get laser treatment for my heels twice a day. We’ll see how that works," she wrote on her website at the time.
The same problem has kept Kanepi out of a number of tournaments this year as well as the Olympic Games in London.
Steve Roman