SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) _ Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten said Thursday he will miss next month's U.S. Open and Brazil's Davis Cup match against Sweden in September.
Kuerten will be sidelined for at least four weeks because of a right thigh injury, according to the player's Web site.
He has not set a date for his return to professional tennis.
``It's better if I don't create any expectations,'' he said. ``I need to be patient right now.''
Kuerten, who has played only one singles match this year, spent several weeks nursing a hip injury at a clinic in the United States earlier this year. He missed Brazil's 4-0 Davis Cup win over Ecuador in April because of the hip ailment.
Kuerten has played only four doubles matches this year, winning three of them.
Brazil hosts Sweden from Sept. 22-24 in a Davis Cup World Group playoff. The U.S. Open starts Aug. 28.
Kuerten, who was ranked No. 1 by the ATP in 2000, won the last of his 20 tour titles in February 2004. He had surgery in September 2004 to remove bone spurs from his hip and played sparingly thereafter, never advancing past the second round of tournaments.
The 29-year-old was eliminated by countryman Andre Ghem in the first round of the Brasil Open in February in his only ATP singles match of the season.
Kuerten, presently ranked No. 509, won the French Open in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
