Federer withdraws from Madrid Open to be with near & dear ones
Roger Federer withdrew from the Madrid Open on Tuesday to spend more time with his family ahead of the birth of his third child. Federer said on his webpage on Tuesday he was pulling out of the tournament “to be with my wife Mirka during these next few exciting weeks for our family.” The fourth-ranked Swiss player, who already has twins, said he would “rejoin the tour soon.”
Federer’s announcement means he will likely miss the Rome Masters next week. He’s previously suggested he would skip the French Open beginning on May 25 if it conflicted with the birth. Federer, a three-time winner in Madrid, hasn’t missed a Grand Slam tournament since 2000.
Federer’s 28-5 record on the season is the ATP’s best, with the former No. 1 having won a title in Dubai. Polish player lukasz Kubot took Federer’s place in the Madrid draw, and faced Gilles Simon of France in a second-round match on Tuesday.
Second-ranked Novak Djokovic also withdrew from Madrid because of a long-term wrist injury.
Sharapova wins
Maria Sharapova avoided an early exit from the Madrid Open on Tuesday, rallying to beat Christina McHale to reach the third round.
Trailing 4-1 in the final set, Sharapova steadied her erratic service game and took command again to beat the 56th-ranked American 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on clay at the Magic Box tennis center.
The ninth-ranked Russian looked to be cruising before McHale broke late in the second set to tie the match and then took her commanding lead in the final set after breaking Sharapova.
However, Sharapova didn’t surrender a point after that as McHale netted to be broken to see her advantage dip to 4-3, and Sharapova eventually fired an ace down the middle to eliminate McHale for the second year running.
“After a really good start (in Madrid) I didn’t keep that level. I think I had a bit of a letdown,” said 2013 finalist Sharapova, who is coming off a tournament victory in Stuttgart.
Earlier, li Na continued her recent dominance of Zheng Jie by easing into the third round 6-2, 6-3 for her fourth straight victory against her fellow Chinese player. Zheng hasn’t won a set from the second-ranked li since her last victory in 2006.
lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic also advanced with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, while American Sloane Stephens was also a winner.
Poland’s lukasc Kubot takes Federer’s place to face Gilles Simon of France.
Fabio Fognini’s recent struggles on Spanish clay continued as the 13th-seeded Italian lost 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov. Fognini failed to get out of the second round at Barcelona last month.
Nicolas Almagro will play Andy Murray next after finally dispensing with Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (4) with his 11th match point.
Other second round winners included Ernests Gulbis of latvia, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands, and Juan Monaco of Argentina — who goes on to play defending champion Rafael Nadal on Wednesday.