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Tennis: Abdominal strain forces three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray out of Cincinnati

Tennis: Abdominal strain forces three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray out of Cincinnati

Tennis: Abdominal strain forces Andy Murray out of Cincinnati.

AndyMurraypulled out of the Cincinnati Open late on Monday as the Briton continues to recover from an abdominal strain in a bid to compete in the U.S. Open that begins later this month. Murray, 36, withdrew from last week's Canadian Open before his round of 16 clash with eventual champion Jannik Sinner due to the issue he picked up after spending nearly five hours on court in wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Max Purcell.

The three-times Grand Slam champion and former world number one travelled to Cincinnati where he hoped to be fit in time to face Russian Karen Khachanov but he will now be replaced by a lucky loser, men's tennis governing body ATP said. Murrayis currently number 36 in the world - his highest ranking since hip resurfacing surgery in 2019 - and was named in Britain's Davis Cup team for their Finals group stage ties that will take place after the Aug. 28-Sept. 10 U.S. Open.

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Venus Williams upsets Veroninka Kudermetova in Cincinnati Open

Venus Williams scored a straight sets upset of 16th seed Veroninka Kudermetova at the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open on Monday, bagging her first win over a top 20 player in four years. The 43-year-old American veteran, who was granted a wild card into this week's tournament, rallied superbly to polish off Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, whose career has spanned four different decades, showed great heart to recover from 4-1 down in the opening set before overturning a 5-1 deficit in the second to seal victory.

"I love this game, it's what I do," Williams said in on-court remarks after her victory against the Russian world number 14. "The last few years have been difficult in terms of injuries," Williams added. "I want to be able to be out here and be strong, and be myself and that's important to me, and I'm trying to get there." Williams, a semi-finalist at Cincinnati in 2012, saw her match interrupted by rain before she completed her victory.

In other women's matches on Monday, 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens marked her 12th appearance with a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Italian ElisabettaCocciaretto. (Inputs from agencies)

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