Fabio Fognini, Andrey Rublev pull out of Montpellier

The Montpellier organizers have suffered a big blow as world No. 12 Fabio Fognini and rising Russian star Andrey Rublev have both pulled out of the event.

Fognini, 32, had been expected to make his debut appearance on the indoor-hard courts of Montpelier this coming February. 

Rublev, 22, made the Montpellier quarterfinal in his lone appearance at the tournament two years. 

Fognini and Rublev have each played three tournaments this season and now they are planning to take a rest after finishing their respective Australian Open campaigns. 

The Italian played three singles matches at the ATP Cup and then lost his opener in Auckland before making the round-of-16 at the Australian Open. 

On the other side, Rublev made an outstanding start to the season as he won back-to-back titles in Doha and Adelaide before he reached the last-16 at Melbourne Park. 

Following the withdrawals of Fognini and Rublev, places in the Montpellier main draw opened for France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan. 

The Montpellier event is scheduled to take place between February 03-09.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/37CX4AW