Nadal pulls out of U.S. Open

FLUSHING, N.Y. (AP) — Reigning champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the U.S. Open on Monday because of an injury for the second time in three years, leaving Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the men to beat at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.

Nadal announced his withdrawal, blamed on a bad right wrist, one week before play begins at Flushing Meadows.

The 14-time major champion was hurt July 29 while practicing on his home island of Mallorca ahead of the North American hard-court circuit. The next day, Nadal announced he needed to wear a cast on his wrist for two to three weeks and would be sitting out tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.

The 28-year-old Spaniard also said at that time he expected to return for the U.S. Open.

Instead, he’s the fourth man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to decline to try to defend his U.S. Open title. The others were Ken Rosewall in 1971, Pete Sampras in 2003 and Juan Martin del Potro in 2010. Del Potro also is out of this year’s U.S. Open after wrist surgery in March.

Querry advances at Winston-Salem

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Sam Querrey got two key services breaks Monday to beat Spain’s Pere Riba 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open.

Querrey, who had advanced to the semifinals the last two years, got a mini-break to win the first-set tiebreaker. He then closed out the match with another service break to advance in the final tuneup before next week’s U.S. Open.

Querrey will next face fellow American Steve Johnson in the second round.

Earlier, Belgian qualifier David Goffin defeated defending champion Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-4 Monday to extend his winning streak to 23 consecutive matches.

Also, France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu overcame a brief rain delay to beat Robby Ginepri of the U.S. 6-3, 7-5. Adrian Mannarino of France, Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan, Canada’s Frank Dancevic, Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz, Argentina’s Federico Delbonis and Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands also advanced.

Wozniacki avoids 1st round upset

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rallied to defeat Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 Monday night in the first round at the Connecticut Open.

Wozniacki got off to a sluggish start. A four-time champion of the New Haven tournament, the fourth-seeded Wozniacki lost the first three games of the match against Bacsinszky, a qualifier. Wozniacki battled back to even the set at 4-4. But Bacsinszky got a break of serve in the next game, and then closed out the set by scoring on a drop shot.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada needed only 52 minutes to beat Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 6-1. The third-seeded Bouchard led 5-0 in each set against the unseeded Jovanovski.

In a late night match, No. 5 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia lost 7-6 (2), 6-3 to Andrea Petkovic of Germany.

Earlier, seventh-seeded Sara Errani of Italy was eliminated by Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Samantha Stosur of Australia earned a 7-6 (8), 6-7 (10), 6-2 victory over Kurumi Nara of Japan.

NCAA looks at cap in appeal

The NCAA could soon find itself in the awkward position of arguing against capping compensation for future players, based on the ruling in the Ed O’Bannon case.

Several attorneys with antitrust or labor law experience told The Associated Press that the $5,000 annual limit for players was the weakest link in U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s decision earlier this month. They claim it may also be the strongest argument for the NCAA in its appeal.

When the decision was originally announced, the cap was seen as a partial victory for the NCAA. But lawyers not involved in this case say Wilken’s number could be seen as arbitrary, creating a potential opening to overturn the ruling.

The NCAA has until Wednesday to file its appeal.