MADRID, May 2, 2016

Roger Federer withdraws from the Mutua Madrid Open with a back injury, which was announced on Monday afternoon.

“Sorry to the tournament for coming and leaving without playing,” Federer told in a press conference.

“I arrived and I was okay, and then I practiced on Saturday and hurt my back a little bit in practice and then stopped early. Supposed to practice for two hours; had to stop after an hour 15. Then, well, I was scheduled to practice yesterday and today but just don’t feel like I can practice. At this point I don’t want to take more chances as I know I’m not going to be fully ready for Wednesday.

“I would rather play it safe and rest up now and get ready for Rome. So that’s the schedule here now. I’m very disappointed, to say the least. I was hoping to play. I changed my schedule around and practiced well in Switzerland before coming here. This is not really what I wanted to do, come here and do a press conference about pulling out. It’s been a tough year, so I hope it gets better from here.”

Federer previously pulled out in Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami this year.