Toronto Is Receiving Withdrawal Notices

Written by: Staff on 6th August 2012

Toronto Is Receiving Withdrawal Notices

epa03343201 Switzerland's Roger Federer during the medals ceremony after the men's singles gold medal match against Britain's Andy Murray at Wimbledon in London, Great Britain, at the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games, 05 August 2012. EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT |

This week’s start of the Toronto Masters will be looking thin at the top after Roger Federer announced his withdrawal shortly after reaching the London Olympic final. The Swiss world No. 1 needed more than four hours and a 19-17 third set to get past Argentine Juan Del Potro in their marathon semi-final last Friday.

That effort, combined with the weekend final, would have made a sprint across the Atlantic just too much – even for the uber-fit player who turns 31 on Wednesday. Federer’s decision came a day after injured former champion Rafael Nadal withdrew due to his chronic knee tendonitis.

The Federer move was not a total surprise for the tournament which has awarded byes into the second round for all 16 seeds but it still plagued by late pullouts.

Added to the list was Andy Roddick (shoulder), after the announcement of absences from David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Gael Monfils. One bright spot: Canadian hero Mils Raonic takes the last seeded spot.

“I’m very disappointed that I have to withdraw from Toronto ,” said Federer. “After a long stretch of tournaments, I will need some time to recover. I look forward to coming back to Canada next year.”