Still recovering from elbow surgery, American Sam Querrey has pulled out of the U.S. Open, the USTA confirmed. Spaniard Tommy Robredo also pulled out, meaning that American veteran Michael Russell will get a spot in the main draw.
"The main reason is because the arm gets fatigued after about an hour of playing. I don't have the strength to be able to play a three-out-of-five set match at a high level yet," Querrey told the Ventura County Star. "I didn't want to go there and think maybe I can play or maybe I can't. I am still young. I don't want to risk it. I think an extra three or four weeks would be beneficial for me."
The 23-year-old last played at Queen's Club and had surgery in June to clean out bone fragments in his right elbow. Querrey reached a career-high of No. 17 in January but has fallen to No. 79 and will fall even further after New York. He is hoping to begin play again in late September and finish in the Top 100, so he can get directly into the 2012 Australian Open.