Agassi withdraws, cites career-threatening injury

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Two-time defending champion Andre Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open with a wrist injury he described as potentially career-threatening.

"I'm worried about the state of it and what it might mean," Agassi said Monday (Sunday CST). "It was a decision I labored over. It's very rare in your career when you wouldn't want to be the defending champion, but this is one of them."

He lost the chance to become just the second man ever to win three consecutive Australian Opens and the first since Roy Emerson won five in a row from 1963-67.

The 31-year-old Agassi, seeded third, informed Australian Open organizers late Sunday night that he was pulling out.

He said he hurt his wrist in the first set Saturday against Pete Sampras in the final of an exhibition tournament in Melbourne. Agassi lost in three sets after two tiebreakers and 1 hour, 48 minutes on court in swirling winds.

Agassi couldn't practice Sunday and couldn't put any pressure on his wrist.

He plans to return to the United States immediately for treatment. The injury is similar to one that needed surgery and kept him off the tour for nearly three months in 1993.

"The pain was bad and fairly familiar," he said. "There's still a lot of questions right now. I'll have to get back and get to the bottom of that."

Agassi doesn't think he worsened the injury by finishing the match against Sampras. He said the decision to withdraw from the Australian Open was a difficult one but in his best interests.

"As a professional athlete, your body is your biggest asset," Agassi said.

Agassi had been scheduled to play qualifier Byron Black of Zimbabwe in a first-round match Tuesday.

He was replaced in the draw by 104th-ranked Iraki Labadze of Georgia, the lucky loser in qualifying.