Injured Seles Withdraws

Citing persistent knee and ankle injuries, co-No. 1 Monica Seles said she won’t play in next week’s WTA Tour Championships in New York.

She has tendinitis in her left knee and a right ankle sprain, according to her agent, Stephanie Tolleson.

Seles, who missed 28 months on the tour after being stabbed by a fan in Hamburg, Germany, in April 1993, returned to the tour this summer by winning the Canadian Open and reaching the U.S. Open final.

“Monica’s long absence from tennis resulted in her not being as strong as she was before the stabbing,” Tolleson said. “She played with the same knee injury at Toronto and at the U.S. Open and has been unable to regain a consistent training schedule since Hamburg.”

Mikael Tillstrom, a Swedish qualifier ranked only 147th in the world, upset third-seed Richard Krajicek 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open in Sweden.

Top-seeded Jim Courier reached the quarters with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Todd Woodbridge.