Andy Roddick Retires With Back Injury In Rome
By Anton Lagani, Lawn Tennis Correspondent, Posted: Saturday, May 10, 2008 2:18pm CST USA
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
ROME,ITALY (lawntennismag.com) - After reaching the semifinals in his first claycourt tournament of the year, the Internazionali
BNL d'Italia, in preparation for
this month's French Open, 6th seed American Andy Roddick was forced to retire with a back injury while trailing Stanislas Wawrinka
of Switzerland 0-3 in set one.
Friday in the quarterfinals, Roddick had scored a major win, defeating 14th seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7-4).
"I felt a little something last night in my back when I was getting treatment. Then, one wrong movement and I had a complete spasm," Roddick
said. "I can't really move my left arm right now. You can't really play around that."
After the third game of the semifinal on the changeover, Roddick received medical treatment courtside for his back injury. In the following
fourth game of the match, he doublefaulted then quit the match.
"I felt a little something last night in my back when I was getting treatment. Then, one wrong movement and I had a complete spasm," Roddick
said. "I can't really move my left arm right now. You can't really play around that."
Roddick, 21-4 this year, had taken singles titles in San Jose and Dubai and was looking to finalize his claycourt warmup for the French Open
which begins May 26th in Paris.
The fastest server in tennis, Roddick holds a record serve speed of 155 mph and is the top ranked American male player. The 25 year old won
the US Open in 2003, but has never advanced past the third round at the French Open. No American male has won the French Open since Andre
Agassi in 1999.
