MASON (Ohio): Wimbledon champion Roger Federer pulled out on Monday from the Western & Southern Open with a back injury, meaning Rafa Nadal will return next week as the world number one for the first time since 2014.

Federer, who has won the Ohio warm-up tournament for the US Open on seven occasions, said he had picked up the injury in Montreal, where he lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the Sunday’s Rogers Cup final.

The move was announced on the first full day of matches and the tournament has now lost five of the top six players in the men’s rankings.

“I am very sorry to pull out of the Western and Southern Open as I always enjoy playing here,” Federer said in a statement issued by the tournament.

“Cincinnati has some of the best fans in the world and I am sorry I will miss them. Unfortunately, I tweaked my back in Montreal and I need to rest this week.”

Federer’s withdrawal assures that Nadal will be top of the rankings when they are issued on Aug 21. The Spaniard will be back in the top spot for the first time since July 6, 2014.

Nadal will take the number one position from Briton Andy Murray, who previously announced he would not play in Cincinnati due to a hip injury.

Nadal said he was sorry to see Federer join the list of players absent this week, which includes Murray, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, the defending champion.

“It’s bad news for Roger he’s not playing,” Nadal said. “I’m sorry for all of them. I hope they have good recovery. We need to see them back for the sport.”

However, the 31-year-old was thrilled to learn he would return to world number one.

“For me to be in that position is something very special,” Nadal said. “I have the passion and love for the game. That’s why I’m able to be back in that position again.”

American Sam Querrey became the first seeded player to advance on a day when the old guard dominated the younger players. The 15th seed cruised into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over wild card Stefan Kozlov.

Ivo Karlovic, who at 38 is one of the oldest players on the ATP Tour, enjoyed a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Czech 24-year-old Jiri Vesely while Italy’s Fabio Fognini, 30, held off Russian youngster Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

In keeping with the trend of veterans beating youngsters, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, 35, beat 21-year-old South Korean Chung Hyeon 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

Unseeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 win over John Patrick Smith of Australia to set up a second-round clash with Nadal.

Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, 33, however, was not as fortunate as he dropped his first round encounter with slightly younger German Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-4.

Other’s men’s matches saw wild card Frances Tiafoe beat qualifier Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), qualifier Joao Sousa defeat Kyle Edmund 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, wild card Tommy Paul beat fellow American Donald Young 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) and qualifier Mitchell Krueger win 6-2, 6-1 over Benoit Paire.

In women’s first-round action, Madison Keys beat fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe for the second time in eight days with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Keys beat Vandeweghe in straight sets in the Stanford Classic final and while pushed a little harder on Monday, the 16th seed still had enough to get by her big-serving compatriot in just under two hours.

Keys, who has never advanced beyond the second round in Cincinnati, will next face unseeded Russian Daria Kasatkina who rushed past qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-4, 6-2.

Earlier, 2016 Olympic singles gold medalist Monica Puig lost to fellow qualifier Taylor Townsend, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

In what promised to be the day’s most balanced match, No 32 Carla Suarez Navarro got past 31st-ranked Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-3, 7-5.

Australian Daria Gavrilova shook off an uncertain second set to defeat France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 7-6 (8-6).

After cruising through a perfect first set, the 23-year-old Gavrilova needed to save a set point in the second to hand the 13th-seeded Mladenovic her third straight loss.

Big-serving Czech Petra Kvitova battled back to defeat Anett Kontaveit 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in Monday’s opening match.

Kvitova, the tournament’s 14th seed and a two-time Wimbledon champion, will face either wildcard American Sloane Stephens or Czech Lucie Safarova.

In other matches, Roberta Vinci knocked out Timea Babos 7-5, 7-5; Camila Giorgi ousted Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-2; Yulia Putintseva outlasted Veronica Cepede Royg, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Beatriz Haddad Maia topped Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-2; and Lesia Tsurenko defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2017