Stosur sidelined from Australian Open

CANBERRA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian tennis player Samantha Stosur said on Monday she will be out of next month's Australian Open after failing to recover from a lingering illness.

Stosur, ranked top in Australia and 46th in the world, struggled with illness for the last half of the year and said she was not fit enough to compete on home soil.

"I am very disappointed I won't be able to compete during the Australian summer," the 23-year-old Stosur said.