Tennis - Zverev canceled for Toronto - Federer and injured

BERLIN (AP) – Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev will not start at the Masters tournament in Toronto next week, organizers said.

“Due to the intense past few weeks and my incredible experience at the Olympics, I need more time to rest,” the 24-year-old from Hamburg said in a message to the organisers. “It was a difficult decision for me because I have good memories of Canada,” the 2017 winner said.

Zverev arrived in Germany from Tokyo on 2 August. Later, he recorded himself in the Golden Book of his native Hamburg, among other things, and participated in the official team presentation of the football record champion Bayern Munich.

Immediately following the tournament in Toronto, there will be another Masters event in Cincinnati in preparation for the US Open, which begins August 30. In the previous year, Zverev reached the final in New York and only missed his first Grand Slam title by Wafer.

Longtime world number one Roger Federer will be absent from Toronto and Cincinnati. The Swiss, who will turn 40 this Sunday, is battling knee problems and has canceled his participation, according to organisers. After his quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Federer had already abandoned the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The winner of 20 Grand Slam titles had two operations on his right knee last year.