Tennis: Fatigued Djokovic withdraws from Montreal event

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next month's Rogers Cup in Montreal in order to get more rest before opening his hard court season, the world number one said on Thursday.

Djokovic, a four-times champion in Canada, said he needs more time to recover after a physically demanding run at Wimbledon, where he beat Swiss Roger Federer in a five-set final to secure his 16th Grand Slam title.

"I'm sorry to announce that I decided to pull out of Rogers Cup," said Djokovic.

"With the support of my team, I have decided to give my body longer rest and recovery time before coming back again to play."

With the Serb's withdrawal, Spain's Rafael Nadal will be the top seed at the August 3-11 tournament.

Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who injured himself at Queen's this year and has since had surgery on his right knee, will also skip the tournament.

"In Del Potro's case, we wish him a speedy recovery, he who has experienced his share of injuries in the past few years," said Montreal tournament director Eugene Lapierre.

"We look forward to seeing him back on court in the near future."

Kuznetsova unable to defend Washington title over 'visa issues'

Svetlana Kuznetsova said on Thursday she will not be able to defend her title at next week's Citi Open in Washington, DC due to issues with obtaining a US visa.

The 34-year-old Russian, a twice Grand Slam winner who is 108th in the world rankings, announced her withdrawal from the July 27-Aug. 4 event on her Instagram account.

"Unfortunately I had to pull out of Washington due to my problems with US visa," Kuznetsova wrote.

"Wanted to apologize to all my fans who were waiting for me there.

"Never had issues like this in my life , hopefully one day I can finally get a visa and play at least some events of the US swing!"

The WTA did not immediately respond when asked to comment.

Kuznetsova, who won the U.S. Open in 2004 and French Open in 2009, collected the most recent of her 18 WTA singles titles last year in the U.S. capital when she saved four match points to beat Croatian Donna Vekic.

The Russian has lost the opening match in each of her last three tournaments, including at Wimbledon and the French Open.