Cape Town - World No 4 Alexander Zverev could miss next week's Australian Open after suffering an injury that forced him to withdraw from this week’s World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide.
The ATP Finals champion took to the court in Adelaide on Monday to announce his withdrawal from the tournament, revealing that he had hurt his hamstring during a practice session.
“We are sad that Zverev has withdrawn from the World Tennis Challenge.” World Tennis Challenge General Manager David Hearne said in a statement.
“We know that he was excited to play in Adelaide and (Fernando) Verdasco will now replace him tonight.”
He had been set to take on Croatia’s Borna Coric on Monday evening.
The severity of Zverev's injury is unknown, although the 21-year-old German did say that he would have to "try" and be fit in time for the start of the year's first Grand Slam.
Zverev is considered one of the hot favourites for the title in Melbourne, after capturing the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of 2018 by beating both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
The Australian Open gets under way on Monday.