Federer pulls out of home tournament

ROGER FEDERER has pulled out of his home event in Basle with a left thigh injury.

The top-ranked player in the world pulled out of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis tournament after tearing a muscle in his left thigh, two hours before his scheduled first-round match against Luis Horna of Peru.

“Roger has a torn muscle in his upper left thigh,” said tournament director Felix Marti.

“Yesterday, he was feeling pain. This morning in training there was more pain so he went for an MRI and we found the muscle tears on the left side.”

Federer is expected to be sidelined about two weeks.

“The doctor said I needed to rest it for 10 to 14 days,” said Federer. “I think this is the result of a long process. There were a lot of matches where I felt tired but was lucky not to get injured.”

Lucky loser Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic will take Federer’s place in the draw.

Federer has already clinched the number one ranking this year.

He defeated Andy Roddick for his 10th title of the year in Bangkok on September 27 after winning the US Open.

Federer’s withdrawal leaves Tim Henman, ranked fourth in the world, as the top player in the Basle event.

Henman is competing despite recently being told by doctors that he has a magnesium deficiency in his blood.