World No. 8 Tomas Berdych has become the latest casualty to the tennis contingent for Rio Olympics after the Czech announced his withdrawal due to Zika virus threats.
Berdych, who tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend Ester Satarova in July last year, said that he took the decision only after consulting with his near and dear ones.
He wrote: “I am very sorry to announce that I will not take part in this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It was a hard decision for me to take after a long and painstaking discussion with my dearest. It’s purely my personal decision but I still feel a need to give at least one of the serious reasons leading to this step to my supporters and fans. It is because of the zika virus spread in the country of the Olympics. As I have founded a family recently to limit health risks towards my nearest is the utmost priority. I apologize to all of you who are disappointed by my decision. I do believe that if you take a deeper account of my reasons you will understand that I have done it out of the responsibility for my family. I wish the Czech team a big success and I hope that I will soon be honored to defend the Czech national colors again.”
The 30-year-old Berdych hasn’t won a title all though this season with his best result coming recently at Wimbledon Championships, where he made the semi-finals before losing to eventual winner Andy Murray in straight sets.
He now joins fellow tennis players Milos Raonic, Simona Halep, and Karolina Pliskova to have pulled out of the sport’s mega-event due to the threats possessed by the mosquito-borne virus. In addition, the likes of Nick Kyrgios, John Isner and Bernard Tomic will also miss the quadrennial event due to other reasons.
