THE LOW DOWN: A-Rod injury woes build - can he salvage his summer in New York?

Andy Roddick's woeful summer season continues to get worse.

After losing early at both Wimbledon and the Rogers Masters, the American baller withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters with a neck strain yesterday.

A-Rod told the press,

Yeah, I mean, I’ve been feeling fine. I got in practices yesterday and the days before. I fell asleep last night. I was pretty tired. I fell asleep and woke up and I still had the lights on in my room. I just kind of passed out. I think when I did, we’re guessing it was in had the wrong position or whatnot. I work up this morning and something in my neck and kind of any activity is causing it to flare up. I went out and tried to warm for about five minutes at about 5:00.

I mean, we’ve been getting treatment all day. You asked what was leading up. Went to a chiropractor and we had Doug work on it. We’ve had kind of everyone take a crack at it today. Tried to hit at 5:00; didn’t go so hot. Went out for some more treatment. Tried to take some painkillers and whatnot.

You know, I thought I might be able to give it a go if it didn’t get any worse. My second or third serve in warm up out there just got infinitely worse, kind of just to the point where it’s tough to move my head right now.

According to A-Rod, this injury is unrelated to the shoulder injury he suffered in the spring, which forced him out of Rome and Roland Garros.

These setbacks only put more pressure on the 25-year old to make good on his decision to skip the Olympics to focus on winning the US Open. His chances in New York were slim even with good preparation, match play and the rest of ATP traveling back from Beijing - but now those odds are shrinking even more.

(image via Getty)