Kevin Anderson has pulled out of all clay tournaments this season, including next month’s French Open, to give himself time to recover from an elbow injury.
The big-serving 32-year-old, who also withdrew from Indian Wells and the Monte-Carlo Masters this year, last played at the Miami Open where he was beaten in the quarter-finals by eventual champion Roger Federer.
“I will unfortunately be missing the clay season this year,” Anderson said in a statement on Twitter. “After discussing with my doctors and team, we thought the best decision is to rest and rehab my elbow injury for a few more weeks.
“I will keep working hard each day to get healthy again in time for [the] grass [season]. I’m very disappointed to be missing Estoril, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, but I know this is the right decision for the long term in my career.”
Anderson, ranked sixth in the world, will look to return for the grass-court season with an eye on Wimbledon which begins on July 1.