Andy Roddick Withdraws From London

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Andy Roddick of the United States fields questions from the media at a press conference after retiring from his match against Stanilas Wawrinka of Switzerland during the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 13, 2009 in Shanghai, China.

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Neil Harman of the Times Online has reported that Roddick has withdrawn from the World Tour Finals with a knee injury.

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.

The American world No.6 has withdrawn from the eight-man extravaganza - which starts on Sunday at the 02 Arena in south-east London - having been unable to overcome the knee injury that forced him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.

Swede Robin Söderling will replace him and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be first alternate.