Roger Federer has withdrawn from this year’s French Open after failing to recover from a back injury. The 34-year-old did not play in the Madrid Open earlier this month after hurting his back during practice for the tournament. Federer returned for the Italian Open but was beaten in the third round by Dominic Thiem. The Swiss has struggled with injury this year, having undergone knee surgery after January’s Australian Open.

The former world number one returned for the Monte Carlo Masters in April and reached the quarter-finals, where he was beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer, winner of the 2009 French Open, has played in just four events in 2016. The last major Federer missed was the 1999 US Open. He was beaten in the French Open quarterfinals last year by eventual champion Stan Wawrinka.

Skipping the French Open will give Federer more time to prepare for Wimbledon, a tournament he has won a record-tying seven times. Because of Federer’s withdrawal from the tournament in Paris, nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal will move up to No. 4 in the seedings, meaning he will avoid a possible quarterfinal match against top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

After Federer, the next longest streak of playing at major tournaments is 56, held by Feliciano Lopez.