Melbourne, Jul 27: The list of athletes opting out of the Commonwealth Games 2010, to be hosted in Delhi, grows lengthier as the Australian tennis ace, Samantha Stosur has decided to give the tennis debut of Commonwealth Games a miss.

The world number five has decided to skip the Games to focus on the bigger season-ending events on the main tour - a reason given by several sportspersons who are not participating in the games including Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton and World heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis.

If Stosur was part of the CWG 2010, she would have been top seed and the favourite to win the gold medal in the women"s singles in the first ever tennis tournament held as part of the Commonwealth Games.

Tennis was considered for the CWG in 2010 due to the growing popularity of the game in the host country, India.

While Stosur dropping out delivers a blow to the CWG 2010 in terms of the international participation, the Australian ace's absence would work well for the Indian ace, Sania Mirza, who is on the look out for a victory after her controversy-marred marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Among the other Indian tennis champs are Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the men's category.

OneIndia News