World tennis number one Andy Murray and big-hitting Croatian Marin Cilic have withdrawn from the Rogers Cup next week as injuries continued to take a toll on the Canadian hardcourt event.
Andy Murray has failed to reach the US Open semi-finals. Photo: Photosport
The withdrawal of Murray, the world's top-ranked player and number six Cilic comes on the heels of U.S. Open champion and world number three Stan Wawrinka announcing he would not be in Montreal due to a knee injury.
Murray, three times a winner of the Rogers Cup, will miss the event for the second straight year as he continues to deal with a troublesome hip.
"I am sad to be missing the tournament in Montreal because I have many great memories from my time in Canada. I am doing everything I can to return as quickly as possible" said Murray in a statement released by Tennis Canada.
Cilic ruled himself out with an abductor injury he says he suffered in the Wimbledon final against Roger Federer.
Both Murray and Cilic will now be in a race to be ready for the season's final grand slam, the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 28 in Flushing Meadows.
Murray claimed the title in 2012 while Cilic hoisted the U.S. Open trophy in 2014.
Murray could lose his number one ranking to Rafael Nadal next week.
Maria Sharapova also withdrew from the Rogers Cup with a sore left arm.
The injury is the same one that had forced Sharapova to pull out of her second round match in Stanford this week.
Competing in her fourth tournament back after a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova said she started to feel pain in her forearm late during her first-round win over American Jennifer Brady.
The injury casts a bigger cloud on Sharapova competing in the year's final grand slam, with the former-world number one hoping for a wildcard into the U.S. Open, an event she won in 2006.
-Reuters
