Federer withdraws from Madrid Masters with back injury

Johannesburg : Former world number one Roger Federer has pulled out of the Madrid Masters due to a back injury.Confirming the news, the 17-time Grand Slam champion, however, said that he remains hopeful of being fit for next week’s Rome Masters, Sport24 reported. Federer, who is a three-time winner in Madrid, had initially planned to skip the fourth Masters series event in order to reserve his energy for the three remaining Grand Slams and Rio Olympics, scheduled later in the year.He had also missed nearly three months of the season after undergoing knee surgery following the Australian Open.