TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Roddick  has withdrawn from the eight-man extravaganza – which starts on Sunday at the 02 Arena in south-east London – having been unable to overcome the knee injury that forced him to pull up lame against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in his opening round of the Shanghai Masters last month. It had been feared for some days that the 27-year-old would not have enough time to recover sufficiently to give his all and he had to bow to the inevitable today.

The loss of Roddick means that Robin Soderling, the Swede who reached this year’s French Open final and will have a year-end ranking inside the top 10 for the first time, replaces him in the eight-man field and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France will travel as the first reserve. The draw for the championship is made aboard the London Eye tomorrow.

Andy Roddick, who departed from London in July on a wave of appreciation for the way he handled defeat in one of the most memorable Wimbledon finals in the event’s history, has lost his battle to be fit to perform in the first staging of the Barclays ATP World Tour finals in the capital.

Roddick may still pay a flying visit to the 02 to acknowledge the warmth and support given to him by the British tennis fans in the aftermath of defeat to Roger Federer at Wimbledon, the American losing 16-14 in the final set of a titanic battle. He is a terrific loss to the World Tour Finals, not only in playing terms but because of the extent of his popularity and personality.

Bookmark It