MADRID — Roger Federer withdrew from the Madrid Open on Monday because of a back injury, continuing a year of misfortune in tennis in which many of the game’s brightest lights have flickered.
He said he injured his back in practice on Saturday, forcing him to cut that session short and to cancel scheduled practices over the next two days. He had been scheduled to play his first match on Wednesday evening; a possible meeting with Rafael Nadal loomed in the quarterfinals.
“I’m very disappointed, to say the least,” said Federer, who has won here twice since the event switched to clay in 2009.