Roddick out of French Open with shoulder injury

[May 20, 2008]  DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) -- Andy Roddick withdrew from the French Open on Monday because of a right shoulder injury and hopes to be ready for Wimbledon.

The sixth-ranked American, who lost in the first round at Roland Garros the last two years, retired from the semifinals of the Rome Masters on May 10. He skipped the Hamburg Masters last week, but had been expected to play this week at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf.

"Andy is pulling out with an upper back shoulder injury, the same thing that he had in Rome," said John Roddick, Andy's brother and the U.S. captain at the World Team Cup. "He's pulling out of here and he's also going to miss the French Open, too."

John Roddick said he hoped his brother would be ready for the grass-court tournament at Queen's Club, a key warmup for Wimbledon.

"The shoulder doctor we use is out of New York City so he was right there, and Andy had an MRI and there's some inflammation so he pulled him from here and the French," John Roddick said. "I don't think it's going to be anything that's terribly long and I would be surprised if he was not ready to go for Queen's. But as for now he needs to take a good 10 days, 12 days, just rest."

Andy Roddick won his only Grand Slam title at the 2003 U.S. Open. He has reached three other major finals, losing to Roger Federer twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open.

At the French Open, Roddick's best showing came in his debut in 2001 when he reached the third round. He reached the second round in 2004 and '05, but has lost in the first round four times.

But his success this year in Rome had given Roddick hope ahead of the French Open, which starts Sunday. The former top-ranked player also has won two titles this season, in San Jose and Dubai.

"He's been playing well all year and he was excited to be playing on the clay and really had a good frame of mind in practice and in his matches," John Roddick said. "He felt really comfortable on the clay this year, so he really liked his chances of doing better than he has, and he did it in Rome. He was optimistic about his draw in France and wanted to come over and try to play well. So for him it's disappointing."

[Associated Press]

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