( dpa ) - World number one Tennis champion Ana Ivanovic will need luck to be fit when the US Opens begins in a fortnight after a thumb injury forced her to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics before her start.
The Serbian top seed produced a shock on the weekend opening day of the Games event when she pulled out, joining Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic on the sidelines.
Not only has the 20-year-old French Open champion handed over her top WTA spot to compatriot Jelena Jankovic - herself nursing a thigh injury in Beijing - but her right thumb may have to be immobilized in order to heal, doctors suggest.
The devastated Ivanovic called her withdrawal "the worst moment of my career."
Despite flying in an osteopath from Sydney in a late bid to take to the court, Ivanovic is now resigned to lengthy treatment on a problem which has bothered her since Wimbledon and flared up only days ago in Canada.
"In the past month I have been in so much pain and I haven't been able to practice for 10 days," she said, adding: "I haven't even hit a ball since arriving in Beijing."