The Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych announced the end of his professional career, seventeen years after his debut on the circuit.
Berdych, 34, was going to make the announcement formally on Saturday in London, but his father Martin advanced the exclusive on Wednesday to the Czech newspaper Blesk, prompting him to make the news official on his social networks.
“I had planned it as a small surprise on Saturday, when I am in London, (…), but nothing happens,” he said in a video in which he appears sitting in a vehicle.
Eliminated in his entry into the competition at the US Open, the Czech has not played since then due to hip problems. With back discomfort, he missed a large part of 2019.
Currently 103rd in the world, Tomas Berdych remained in the Top-10 without interruption from July 2010 to January 2017, reaching fourth place in the ATP rankings in May 2015.
He never won a Grand Slam title, although he reached the Wimbledon final in 2010.
His record includes 13 ATP titles, as well as two silver Davis Cup salad bowls. AFP