Soderling withdraws from U.S. Open with virus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sixth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden has withdrawn from the U.S. Open due to illness, tournament officials said Wednesday.

Soderling was due to play Ireland's Louk Sorensen, a qualifier, in a first-round match later Wednesday. His place in the draw will be taken by Rogerio Dutra da Silva of Brazil.

"They don't know what kind of virus it is but the doctor thinks it can be something related to the throat problems he had a couple of weeks ago, which made him have to withdraw from the Masters tournament in Cincinnati."

Soderling, 27, equalled his best U.S. Open performance in 2010 when he reached the quarter-finals. He has a 13-8 career record at the year's final grand slam.

"He started feeling ill last night and was still hoping to play his match but basically he was feeling too bad to play a five-set match in a grand slam tournament," said Wennerstrom.

"He will try to get back home as soon as possible for further examinations."

(Writing by Steve Ginsburg; Editing by Frank Pingue)