Mercury Open Loses Another Tennis Player to Injury

Another top player has withdrawn from the Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center women's tennis tournament. Defending singles champion Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled out because of a groin injury and will be replaced by Vania King, an American player ranked 88th in the women's tennis rankings. King was a doubles champion at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

Qualifying begins Saturday at the , while the main draw starts on Monday. After attracting a solid field of players, the tournament has lost 2011 Wimbledon singles champion and defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters. Kvitova cited an abdominal injury; for Clijsters, it was an ankle. The most recognizable players who remain are former top-ranked Serbian player Ana Ivanovic, Russian Daniela Hantuchova and American Melanie Oudin, who made early round splashes in 2009 at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

CNS contributed to this report