Berdych withdraws from French Open with injury

An ongoing back problem forced Berdych to sit out the second half of 2018, and the Czech former world number four has played just once since February.

Berdych is struggling with a back injury.

Former French Open semifinalist Tomas Berdych will miss this year's tournament after failing to fully recover in time from injury, he said on Wednesday.

An ongoing back problem forced Berdych to sit out the second half of 2018, and the Czech former world number four has played just once since February.

“I am not 100% ready to play the way I want and need to be competitive on the courts I love so much,” tweeted Berdych, who reached the last four at Roland Garros in 2010.

“I came to Paris and I had to take a tough decision and want another few days to fully recover and be ready for the grass season.”

“I love this tournament so much but I have to make sure not to further injure myself,” he added.

Berdych, 33, has tumbled to 100th in the rankings after skipping the entire clay court season.