Federer pulls out of French Open
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer will be unable to immediately try to add to his record haul of 17 Grand Slam titles having pulled out of the French Open in Paris with injury problems.
The world number three has failed to recover from a back problem he sustained earlier this month. “I have been making steady progress with my overall fitness, but I am still not 100% and feel I might be taking an unnecessary risk by playing in this event before I am really ready,” he posted on his websiteExternal link.
“This decision was not easy to make, but I took it to ensure I could play the remainder of the season and help to extend the rest of my career. I am sorry for my fans in Paris but I very much look forward to returning to Roland Garros in 2017.”
The 34-year-old has won the clay court tournament once, in 2009, and reached the final on four other occasions. His last Grand Slam win was at Wimbledon in 2012.
Last month, he had a street named after him in Biel, canton Bern.
But Switzerland has another chance to take the title next month, with Stanislas Wawrinka, who won the French Open last year.
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