Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Italian Open on the eve of his Quater-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The world number 3 Roger Federer has pulled out of the Quarter-final of the Italian Open due to an Injury to his right Leg. Thirty-Seven year old and four time finalist was playing in his first Italian Open since 2016.
The injury comes after playing opponents Joao Sousa and Borna Coric both on Thursday. He managed to beat Joao Sousa in Straight sets in the morning game, then played Borna Coric who gave him a hard time as Federer had to come back and save two match points to defeat him 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) .
As Federer has pulled out Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas will now play either Fernando Verdasco or Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. This is the fourth time in his whole career that Federer has pulled out of match and in 1,465 career matches, Federer has never retired during a match.
Federer released a statement before the game saying “I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete today, I am not 100 per cent physically and after consultation with my team, it was determined that I not play.Rome has always been one of my favorite cities to visit and I hope to be back next year.”
The Tennis Ace has blamed the wet surface of the court as the cause of his injury as he said when he slipped on the baseline he hurt his toe and leg.
He spoke in great length about his disappointment over the surface and how unfair it is on the players who have to sacrifice there health in such conditions.
During his Post match Interview he said “The lines are wet. Wet playing lines mean you slide. When I slid I hurt myself. I did hurt my toe for two games and my leg was also hurting a little bit.
I just don’t understand. They don’t make us play but they should call time. They make us stand there and feel the pressure from 10,000 people and a live audience.The player will always cave in the end. It is going to take five minutes until the lines are dry and I don’t think we should play with wet lines. Nobody wants an injured player because of something silly like this just to make the matches keep going.”
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