Berdych to miss Davis Cup quarterfinal at Chile

Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych has ruled himself out of the Czech Republic’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against Chile because of an abdominal muscle injury.

“If I have a problem, it’s this muscle,” Berdych told Czech public radio on Sunday just hours after losing the Wimbledon final to Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

“The windy conditions (in the match) contributed to it,” Berdych said. “There are so many matches but I have just one body. Nobody’s a machine to cope with everything.”

On Facebook, the Czech team said that Berdych will take a three-week rest after his first Grand Slam final.

The Czech Republic’s No. 2, Radek Stepanek, was also ruled out of the July 9-11 Davis Cup tie in Coquimbo on clay because of a left knee injury.

The team announced later Sunday that Ivo Minar, ranked 255th, will replace Berdych to join No. 90 Jan Hajek in the singles.

Doubles specialists Lukas Dlouhy and Frantisek Cermak are also on the team.

Berdych and Stepanek helped the Czechs reach last year’s final, where they lost 5-0 to Spain.