Top seed Amelie Mauresmo withdrew from the Stuttgart Grand Prix without playing a match on Thursday, suffering from a right shoulder strain. The French world number one added her name to a tournament injury list that includes Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Anastasia Myskina, all of whom pulled out before the tournament began.
"On Monday during practice I felt something on the serve, and obviously I was hoping it was nothing too serious, which was not the case," Mauresmo told reporters. Mauresmo's place in the draw was taken by American lucky loser Lisa Raymond.
The $650,000 event lost another leading player on Thursday when sixth seed Russian Dinara Safina was upset 6-2 6-2 by Slovak Daniela Hantuchova. It was Hantuchova's first victory over a top 10 opponent since she defeated Patty Schnyder in Sydney in the second week of the year and follows two previous defeats by Safina, the most recent last week in Luxembourg.