Wimbledon champion Roger Federer withdrew on Monday from the Western & Southern Open, which he has won seven times, citing a back injury.
Tournament officials announced Federer's withdrawal on the first full day of matches at the event in Cincinnati.
The 19-time major champion said in a statement that he "tweaked" his back last week at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, where he lost Sunday to Alexander Zverev in the final.
The Swiss star, No. 3 in the ATP Tour rankings, becomes the fifth of the top six players to skip Cincinnati because of injuries. He joins top-ranked Andy Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, fifth-ranked Novak Djokovic and sixth-ranked Marin Cilic, the defending champion.
Federer's withdrawal means Rafael Nadal will return to No. 1 when new ATP rankings are released on Aug. 21. The Spaniard will be No. 1 for the first time since July 6, 2014.
Nadal has spent 141 weeks as the men's No. 1 player.
In early first-round men's play Monday, Richard Gasquet and wild card Tommy Paul advanced in straight sets. Gasquet eased past qualifier John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-4, while Paul beat fellow American Donald Young 6-4, 7-6 (4). Ivo Karlovic needed three sets to knock out Jiri Vesely 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
In women's action, 14th-seeded Petra Kvitova shook off a first-set loss to beat Anett Kontaveit 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, while Beatriz Haddad Maia advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Lauren Davis.
Source: Khaleej Times
GMT 19:47 2018 Sunday ,21 January
Fleetwood retains Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship titleGMT 18:53 2017 Thursday ,23 November
Kubica knocking on the doors againGMT 18:43 2017 Thursday ,23 November
Wolff can breathe a bit easy this timeGMT 17:56 2017 Thursday ,23 November
Ricciardo hopes to sign off on a high note in Abu DhabiGMT 17:52 2017 Thursday ,23 November
Verstappen all fired up for Abu Dhabi Grand PrixMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor