A knee injury has forced Frenchman Gilles Simon to pull out of next week's Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.
Simon has had trouble with his right knee since last year's French Open but had hoped to play in Australia before the injury flared up again today.
Simon reached the quarter-finals at last year's Australian Open, his best result at a grand slam, and was seeded 15th for the first major tournament of 2010.
He was drawn to play Portugal's Frederico Gil in the second round and organisors are yet to name a replacement.
