Ferrero pulls out of Australian Open

Fifth seed Juan-Carlos Ferrero withdrew from next week's Australian Open on Thursday citing a knee injury.

His withdrawal means the men's seeds all move up one place making Pete Sampras the eighth seed.

Hopman Cup-winning fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo joins the seeded players at 32.

"He pulled out of the Sydney event three weeks ago with what he said was a knee injury," Open spokesman John Lindsay said.

"Up until today he was confident that he was going to be fit enough to play in the Open, but it seems he won't be ready in time."

Australian Open Chief Executive Paul McNamee said: "Juan-Carlos was hopeful of playing so it must be a real disappointment for him to have to inform us today that he won't be sufficiently recovered.

"Obviously we wish him all the best for a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back playing as soon as possible."

One player who benefits from the withdrawal is Ivo Heuberger from Switzerland who moves up from the qualifying into the main draw.