Murray suffers Barca blow

British number one Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Barcelona Open after failing to recover from an elbow injury.

British number one to take four to five days' rest

Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Barcelona Open after failing to recover from an elbow injury. Murray damaged a joint in Monte Carlo, but managed to contest his semi-final against Rafael Nadal in the principality the following day, losing in three sets to the world number one. He flew out to Barcelona in the hope the injury would clear up but he has now been advised to take four to five days' rest. In a statement, Murray said: "Under advice from the medical experts I have had to withdraw from the Barcelona tournament due to a right elbow injury.

Berdych blow

"I'm going to take four to five days' rest and begin practising at the start of next week." Murray is due to play in Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome next month - warm-up tournaments for the French Open, the second major of the season which gets under way in Paris on May 22. And the Scot is not the only big name to miss the event, with world number seven Tomas Berdych also ruled out through injury. The Czech fifth seed will be replaced in the draw at the Real Club de Tenis by Rui Machado of Portugal.