Kim Clijsters’ wrist injury will keep her out of next month’s Fed Cup final against Italy, hurting Belgium’s hopes of winning the title. The second-ranked Clijsters said Tuesday she would be wearing a brace for up to six weeks and plans to return to the WTA Tour at her home tournament in Hasselt, the Oct.

Diana Ross will perform, and Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Venus Williams will participate in next week’s opening night ceremony at the U.S. Open. The focus will be the renaming of the U.S. Tennis Association National Tennis Center in honor of former player and pioneer Billie Jean King. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also will take part in the Aug.

Martina Hingis beat Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Thursday night. The former top-ranked player will face fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2, 7-6 (6). The seventh-seeded Hingis fought back from 0-40 to break Hantuchova’s serve for a 6-5 lead and needed four set points to win the first set.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters will miss the U.S. Open because of a left wrist injury. A posting on her Web site Thursday said an MRI exam and X-ray showed the problem is worse than originally believed and that the Belgian will be sidelined for the coming weeks — and probably two months, meaning she’ll also miss the Fed Cup final in September.

Former finalist Mark Philippoussis and seven young American men received wild cards for the U.S. Open on Thursday. Philippoussis, a former top-10 player now ranked 112th, has entered only nine tour-level events in 2006 because of injuries. The 1998 U.S. Open and 2003 Wimbledon runner-up was given a wild card by the U.S.

French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, coming off a knee injury that has sidelined her since the Wimbledon finals, was among three top 10 players to join the field Thursday for the Pilot Pen, next week’s final tuneup before the U.S. Open. Henin-Hardenne, ranked No. 3 in the world, has skipped events in San Diego and Montreal, and said she won’t play for Belgium in September’s Fed Cup final…

Martina Navratilova’s retirement sendoff will include induction into the U.S. Open Court of Champions. She’ll be inducted along with the late Don Budge, a two-time winner, in ceremonies at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sept. 10 before the men’s final. The 49-year-old Navratilova announced this summer that she will retire again after the U.S.

Nathalie Dechy beat Tzipi Obziler of Israel 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1 Monday in the first round of the Rogers Cup. The Frenchwoman felt right at home in Quebec, having visited relatives in nearby Sherbrooke before the tournament. “I want to enjoy it and do the best I can here also because I really feel almost like home,” she said.

Third-seeded David Nalbandian waited out a rain delay and beat Rik De Voest 6-0, 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. Nalbandian reached the semifinals of two Grand Slam events this year but was upset in the first round of last week’s Masters event in Toronto.

Going deep into a tournament often means three-set matches and a lot of court time for Elena Dementieva. The extra effort was worth it Sunday, when Dementieva outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for the JPMorgan Chase Open championship. “It was a very consistent week for me,” she said. “Usually it takes lots of hours for me to get to the final.

Third-seeded Zheng Jie beat Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 6-1 Sunday in the Nordic Light Open final that started outdoors and finished indoors. Tied 1-1 in the opening set at Olympic Stadium, the final was suspended because of rain for more than three hours and finally moved indoors to the nearby Royal Tennis Hall.

Andre Agassi on Saturday pulled out of the upcoming Cincinnati Masters because of back pain. “Andre is reluctantly unable to play,” tournament director Bruce Flory said Saturday. “He had every intention of playing, but just didn’t feel physically right in his practice sessions here.” The tournament starts Monday near Cincinnati.

There were plenty of reasons for Arnaud Clement to lose to Andy Murray on Sunday: a much slower top serve (134 mph to 122 mph), fewer aces (9-1) and fewer total winners (22-20). Plus, Murray was trying to impress his new coach, Brad Gilbert, former mentor to Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. If Clement’s play was less spectacular, it was far steadier, especially once Murray developed two blisters on…