Roger Federer suffering from back muscle spasms in advance of Aussie Open

[marmar]

DOHA, Qatar (AP)—Defending champion Roger Federer pulled out of his semifinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Qatar Open because of a back injury on Friday.

However, the 16-time Grand Slam champion says he expects to be ready for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 16.

In a news conference 30 minutes before his match, Federer said his back muscle spasms had not improved since beating Andreas Seppi in three sets on Thursday.

Rafael Nadal will meet Gael Monfils in the other semifinal match on Friday. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news?slug=ap-qataropen-federerwithdraws

[TBF]

1. Hope he's better for the Australian -

I've been watching him since he came out of juniors and realize all good things must come to an end. Trying to prepare myself.

[marmar]

2. I know....

I really can't imagine tennis without him. There are plenty of great players - Djokovic, Nadal etc. - but Roger Federer is a transcendent figure.

[MuseRider]

3. I can't imagine Roger being gone from tennis.

I really like all the others in the men's game but Roger is poetry on the court. Seems like a nice man as well. As long as he is playing he will be who I am rooting for. I had a really hard time when Agassi left, this may be worse. Still, it sounds like he is in for this year as long as his back, and other parts, hold up.

[joeybee12]

4. Hi!

Yeah, I hope it's not serious...he said he felt with some treatment and rest he'd be ok for the Aussie...I hope so, it's probably his best chance to get another slam.

[MuseRider]

5. Hey joey!

I am looking forward to the tennis season. I hardly ever watch in between the slams so the big slams are like Christmas to me . It is my excuse to have odd hours and lots of lazy time since, of course, I do it only 4 times a year. I love tennis but watching like this makes it more special to me.

Roger will be missed when he finally leaves. I hope he does not just totally disappear. It seems that often the players I liked the least pop up all the time and the players I really liked leave the sport never to be seen again, or rarely. Oh well.

[joeybee12]

6. I'm looking forward to it, too...

It's tough to follow other than the slams because there's not much coverage of it...and it's weird how the Aussie is in January then you have to wait until May/June for the French, and then it's non-stop for a few months.

I'm going to hate to see Roger go...I really don't like many of the men who'll be left, but hopefully someone new will come along...as for the women, not a big fan of anyone out there although I'd like to see Caroline win one slam to shut a few people up!!!

[marmar]

8. I would like to see Woz win one too because she seems like such a nice person.....

...... but I just don't think she has it in her. And with the emergence of Kvitova and Azarenka, I think she'll have a tough time, barring some injury to someone else.

[joeybee12]

9. You'd think her best shot would be the French...

But she seems to fall apart there...yes, it does seem like those two are emerging...it's good for the game to see new faces.

[TBF]

10. I think he'll be a commentator -

you know how he loves to talk when they interview him. Plus he speaks tons of languages ...

[bigwillq]

7. Oh, too bad.