Paris:
France's hopes of winning the Davis cup were dealt a body blow on Wednesday when top player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said he was ending his season because of a knee injury.
The world number 13 already had three months on the sidelines this summer to have an operation on his troublesome left knee and only returned to action last month in Tokyo.
But he felt pain again in the joint in losing to compatriot Gael Monfils in the semi-finals of the ATP Montpellier tournament last week.
"I will not play at Bercy (Paris Masters) and the Davis Cup because of the injury I sustained at Montpellier," Tsonga said drawing down the curtain on another injury-marred season.
"It was not an easy decision to take, as for me it was a childhood dream to play in a Davis Cup final and it leaves me with a lot of regrets and a bitter taste in my mouth.
"But the doctors told me to stop and that it would have been dangerous to continue playing. It would not have been worth it to take a huge risk like that.
"I will rest the injury for three weeks and get back into training again at the start of December if evrything goes according to plan."
His absence will be felt by France when they travel to Belgrade early next month to contest the Davis Cup final against Novak Djokovic's Serbia who will be bidding to win the trophy for the first time.
Monfils will likely be France's lead singles player with the other spot going to either Michael Lodra, Richard Gasquet or Gilles Simon.