Berdych withdraws from Wimbledon

Published by Matt Trollope

Tomas Berdych in action at the ATP grass-court event in Stuttgart, Germany; Getty Images
Tomas Berdych reveals he has been struggling with ongoing back pain and will not play at Wimbledon, where he was a finalist in 2010.

Former top 10 stalwart Tomas Berdych will miss Wimbledon this year.

The Czech, who reached the final at the All England Club in 2010, announced on Twitter on Sunday that injury has forced him to skip from the grass-court Grand Slam.

“I have been struggling with back pain for a couple of months now and have tried every possible treatment and medical solution,” he wrote.

“Unfortunately things have not gotten better and all my attempts to be ready and healthy for the grass season were not successful.”

Berdych is currently ranked 19th, down from a career-high mark of No.4 set in May 2015. He hasn’t fallen outside the top 20 since 2010.

After reaching the quarterfinals of this year’s Australian Open, his form and results went south, in keeping with the revelation that he has been suffering ongoing back pain.

The Czech went 0-4 in a miserable clay-court season and snapped a five-match losing streak last week in Stuttgart on grass, only to fall in the quarterfinals to Milos Raonic.

This week he fell in the first round at the Queen’s Club to Julien Benneteau, his eighth loss from his past 11 matches.

In what has been a remarkably consistent career, Berdych’s Wimbledon absence will be just the second time since 2003 he has not appeared in a Grand Slam main draw.

He skipped the 2016 US Open due to appendicitis.

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