Stan Wawrinka withdraws from Rotterdam Open due to injury

Stan Wawrinka has withdrawn from the Rotterdam Open after he failed to recover from the knee injury that he sustained at the Australian Open.

The US Open champion had his right knee taped throughout the tournament in Melbourne until his semi-final loss to eventual winner, Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3. Wawrinka said that his knee injury was an issue following the match but refused to blame it as an excuse for his loss.

The Swiss, who won the Rotterdam Open in 2015, was expected to take part as the top seed for the indoor hard court ATP event, before he had to call tournament director Richard Krajicek.

"Stan called me this afternoon to share the bad news," Krajicek said as quoted on SBS.

"Test results today showed that he is not able to play matches as a result of his knee. The medical advice came as a complete and unpleasant surprise - not just for us, but for him as well."

The world number three's absence is a bad news but the tournament in Holland is packed with stars with Rafael Nadal headlining the draw following his loss to Federer in the Australian Open final.

Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Thomas Berdych, David Goffin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Grigor Dimitrov are also scheduled to play, while Benoit Paire will take Wawrinka's place.