Fed, Nadal downed by injury

Federer: precautionary measure

Also see

• Tennis Results
• ATP Schedule
• Tennis on Sky
• Messageboards

World number two Roger Federer has pulled out of the Paris Masters due to a back problem.

The Swiss second seed had been due to play American James Blake in the quarter-finals on Friday.

"Due to a stiff back, I have decided to pull out of my match against James Blake tonight," Federer wrote on his website. "My back has been stiff for the last couple of days and I woke up this morning and it did not respond to the treatment I had last night.

"As a precaution and because I would be unable to play at 100 per cent tonight, I have unfortunately had to take the difficult decision not to play."

Top seed Rafael Nadal was also forced to withdraw from the event, although he did at least make it onto court.

The Spaniard lost the first set of his quarter-final against sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 before pulling out due to a right knee injury.

Nadal was unsure if injury would force him to miss the season-ending Masters Cup.

"When I push with the right leg all the time the knee wasn't there, the knee is going down," he said. "I felt a sharp, acute pain."

"Today when I woke up I felt it a lot. I try to practice but still feel it. Later I went to the doctor and he gave me some anti-inflammatories.

"We are going to have the tests and everything. Hopefully it's going to be fine for Shanghai, but you never know."