Berdych Bangkok top seed after Murray withdraws
World No 6 Tomas Berdych has been promoted to top seed at the ATP Thailand Open after the withdrawal of world No 3 Andy Murray.
The 2008 semi-finalist from the Czech Republic is one of the two top-10 players left in the tournament, after fears Murray would withdraw came true on Thursday night. The Wimbledon champ will undergo surgery on his back.
The 28-year-old Berdych, fresh from leading the Czechs to a 3-2 Davis Cup victory over Argentina for a final against Serbia, is due to arrive in Bangkok tomorrow at noon, a few hours after world No 9 Richard Gasquet of France, the defending champion, jets in.
Also joining the tournament will be last year’s quarter-finalist Milos Raonic of Canada, at 22 the youngest player in the top 20.
Spaniard veteran Tommy Robredo, ranked 19th in the world, is the other top 20 player to have withdrawn from this year’s edition. However, world No 16 Gilles Simon, the 2009 winner, in-form Russian Mikhail Youzhny, baby-faced Spaniard Feliciano Lopez (No 20), Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Aussie rising star Bernard Tomic will all be at Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani next week.
