Mikhail Youzhny

Youzhny pulling out of the tourney in Kuala Lumpur
Youzhny has been suffering with a chronic back injury. He played an extended Davis Cup match last week and that didn’t help his back. The Russian says he needs to take some rest.
“I have to take care about my back and that means I have to have some special treatment in Moscow,” Youzhny said. “It is because of that I cannot make the trip to Kuala Lumpur. This is a tournament I like very much and last year was very successful for me. I want to say thank you for the invitation to come there and to wish all the fans of the tennis a good time.”
http://tinyurl.com/3ds97wv

Top seed and defending champion Mikhail Youzhny finished strongly as he defeated German wild card Matthias Bachinger 7-5, 6-2 on Monday to reach the second round of the BMW Open in Munich. Youzhny admitted that he was a little rusty, having returned to Moscow after a first-round loss in Monte-Carlo.

“It was a little tough today because I haven’t played a lot of matches this year and being in Moscow I haven’t had a chance to practise on clay," Youzhny said. "I like the atmosphere but it’s a totally different feeling to last year when I came into the tournament having spent more time on the clay and having played Rome.”

The Russian was tested in the first set by the No. 96-ranked Bachinger, but capitalised on two of his three break points as he broke away in the second set to claim victory in one hour and 37 minutes. World No. 13 Youzhny improved to a 19-6 match record at the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament. As well as winning the title last year (d. Cilic), he also reached the final in 2007 (l. to Kohlschreiber) and 2009 (l. to Berdych).

If, like me, anyone was wondering where Youzhny was then wonder no more:

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1609144.php/Agassi-Safin-Youzhny-to-play-exhibition-games-in-Taiwan

Mikhail Youzhny retired with a back injury from his second round match at the Paris Masters on Tuesday, relinquishing any hope of qualifying for the ATP Finals.

Youzhny on retaining the BMW German Open: “It was a really tough match (against Cilic). There were some tough moments for me. At the beginning of the third set I think two or three of my games were going from deuce to advantage and back to deuce, so it was really tough.
“It is a good tournament, there is a nice atmosphere. I have a lot of friends here. It is a well-organised tournament for the players, whenever you need something they try to help and that’s important for the players.”

Youzhny has withdrawn from Indian Wells due to the back pain he felt during both of his singles rubbers against Devvarman and Bopanna in the Davis Cup tie with India on the weekend.

After his singles rubber #2 win over the outclassed Rohan Bopanna, Mikhail Youzhny confessed to feeling some uncomfortable pain in his lower back again.

He is scheduled to take on Somedev Devvarman in a live singles rubber first up tomorrow after Bhupathi and Paes claimed the doubles with ease (2-1 Russia), and Indian captain SP Misra hinted at a possibility of Leander Paes playing the singles if Somdev wins in place of Bopanna who looked completely out of his depth on Day One.

With his finals effort in Rotterdam, Youzhny has risen 5 spots to #15 on the updated ATP rankings, which is his highest ranking for some time.

He complained of a leg injury in the decider against Soderling, and had this to say about his retirement;

"I felt the pain yesterday already but then I still could play. But today it got worse. It feels like a muscle injury around the hip but it could also be a nerve. It is not surprising that so many players are injured early in the year if you see the tough ATP calendar."

if he beat monfils and djoko it can't be that bad can it?

Youzhny on the wrist injury that forced his withdrawal against Kubot:

"I have had treatment every day. I'm going to the doctor every day. I have had some anti-pain pills, I'm doing everything I can but it doesn't help."

"I cannot play my backhand at all. I can play a little bit with the forehand but there's still a little bit of pain. I understand there's no chance I can play well here and if I continue to play here, I might miss a lot of time."