Tomas Berdych, Nick Kyrgios cut seasons short due to injuries

While Berdych has taken a break to address his back injury, Kyrgios has chosen to stay off court due to a hip problem.

File photo of Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios (Reuters)

London: Czech Tomas Berdych and Australian Nick Kyrgios are the latest leading players to end their seasons early due to injury problems, they said on Thursday.

Twelve-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic, three-times major winner Stanislas Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic will not play competitively again in 2017. World number three Andy Murray has not played since Wimbledon.

Berdych, the world number 18, announced that he would miss tournaments in Vienna and Paris because of a back injury.

The 32-year-old still had a remote chance of qualifying for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals for an eighth time.

"I have been playing with back pain since Wimbledon and in my last match in Beijing I felt like it was getting worse," Berdych said on Twitter.

"I was advised by my medical team to give it a few weeks rest, and to have treatment, in order to be completely healthy and pain free and to be ready to compete at the start of 2018."

The 22-year-old Kyrgios, world number 20, has been struggling with a hip injury after failing to get past the second round in any of this year's grand slams.

"Unfortunately, due to the recurrence of my hip injury that I originally suffered at Queen’s, I am shutting down my season to make sure I can rehab and prepare as best as I can for the Australian summer," he posted in a statement on Twitter.

"This year hasn’t been as successful as I would have liked, especially at the slams, although it has been positive in some other areas. I will do all I can to improve for 2018."

Four players, including world number one Rafa Nadal and 19-times grand slam champion Roger Federer, have qualified for the eight-man Tour Finals in London next month with four more spots still up for grabs.