Injured Roddick will miss summer hardcourt season-opener

Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick has delayed his return to tennis for the second time in three weeks, pulling out as top seed at the Indianapolis Championships which begin Sunday.

The American, who lost for a third time in a final at the All England club when he fell to Roger Federer a fortnight ago, is taking his time in finding his feet after the devastating loss, which gave Federer an historic 15th Grand Slam singles trophy.

Roddick's coach Larry Stefanki telephoned tournament officials with the bad news that the 26-year-old was still suffering from the hip flexor injury which bothered him in during the grass season.

The withdrawal from Indianapolis comes little more than a week after the 2003 US Open winner opted to skip a Davis Cup date for the US, with the 32-time champion Americans falling to a heavy quarter-final loss against Croatia as a result.

Roddick has given no indication of when he will be mentally and physically up to re-joining the tennis wars, with the Indianapolis event marking the start of the hardcourt build-up to the US Open, which begins on August 31.

Roddick's absence gave compatriot Robby Ginepri a place in the 32-man main draw, with the 2005 champion hoping to find some form after a bout of appendicitis early in 2009.

Top seed Dmitry Tursunov won the event in 2007 and lost the final a year ago to Frenchman Gilles Simon, who is not returning to defend his title. The number 24 Russian has not played since a first-round Wimbledon loss to German Mischa Zverev, opting out of Davis Cup in Israel.

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Sunday (AFP)