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| World number one Roger Federer of Switzerland gestures
during a news conference announcing his withdrawal from the Davidoff
Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Basel October 26, 2004.
[Reuters] |
Roger Federer pulled
out of the Swiss Indoors after hurting his left
thigh
in a practice session Tuesday, while Taylor Dent and Paradorn Srichaphan
exited with upset losses.
The top-ranked Federer will need to rest up to two weeks and could miss
the Paris Masters and season-ending Tennis Masters Cup, which starts
November 17 in Houston.
As a kid, Federer was a ball boy at this tournament, which he's never
won.
"This is a huge disappointment for me, clearly," said Federer, the
first man since 1988 to win three Grand Slam titles in a season. "But all
I can do is wait again until next year."
The man who replaced him in the draw, Bohdan Ulihrach, reached the
second round when Luis Horna quit with lower back pain after losing the
first set 6-1.
Dent was toppled by wild
card Ivo Heuberger 6-2, 6-3, while Srichaphan was eliminated by Stefan
Koubek 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3.
"It was a long match, and he just did better," said Srichaphan, ranked
25th in the world, 67 spots above Koubek. "I won the first set, but after
that he turned everything around."
Also, French Open champion Gaston Gaudio beat
qualifier Dick Norman 7-6 (3), 6-4, fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo edged qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka
7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4, and Jiri Novak defeated Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-3.
(Agencies) |
Updated: 2004-10-27 15:42