TORONTO (Reuters) - Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from next week's Rogers Cup in Toronto with a nagging forearm injury, Tennis Canada announced on Friday.
The 29-year-old Czech, who won the Rogers Cup in 2012, initially injured her forearm while training in Paris ahead of the French Open and has not competed since her loss in the last 16 at Wimbledon last month.
"My forearm injury is continuing to cause some problems so, on the advice of my medical team, I have made the decision not to travel to Canada," Kvitova said in a Tennis Canada news release. "I will really miss being in Toronto this year."
The injury has interrupted what has been an impressive season for Kvitova, who triumphed in Sydney, finished runner-up at the Australian Open and then won the title in Stuttgart.
Kvitova was among the favourites going into the French Open but withdrew from the year's second Grand Slam before her first-round match because of the forearm injury that she said at the time required her to take up to three weeks off.
Due to Kvitova's withdrawal from Toronto, Tennis Canada said three-times champion Serena Williams will now be a top-eight seed and play her opening match on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; editing by Ken Ferris)