PARIS, Oct 30: World No 1 tennis player Roger Federer on Monday pulled out of the Paris Masters, tournament organisers said, dealing another blow to an event already rocked by the absence of French Open winner Rafael Nadal.

Federer, who wrapped up his 11th title of the season on Sunday when he won his hometown Basel tournament, had hinted that he would withdraw in order to save himself for the Masters Cup in Shanghai from Nov 12.

His win over Fernando Gonzalez in Basel was his 92nd match of 2006.

“Roger telephoned Cedric (Pioline, the co-director of the tournament) to say that he was very tired after his final in Basel and would not be playing,” said co-tournament director Alain Riou.

Former Wimbledon finalist Pioline, who confronts the problem of big name no-shows every year, admitted that the scheduling of events was at the heart of the controversy.

“There's a problem with the structure of the calendar between Masters Series events and other tournaments,” he said.

“The only penalty of any use would be suspension. It's the only thing the players understand because financial penalties won't make any difference.”

Nadal, the world No 2, withdrew on Sunday with a stomach muscle injury picked up in training while world No 3 David Nalbandian pulled out on Saturday because of gastro-enteritis.

Federer hasn't played the Paris tournament since 2003 when he made the quarter-finals and was booed off after a tame defeat to Britain's Tim Henman.

Spain's Nadal has yet to make his debut at the Bercy arena.

Federer has had a hectic three weeks winning the titles in Tokyo, the Madrid Masters and then Basel.

“I've played a lot,” he said after his straight sets win over Gonzalez on Sunday. “This is my 92nd match of the season, I have to be careful.”

The withdrawal of the world top three left Russia's Nikolay Davydenko as the top ranked player in Paris.

Paris Masters organisers have traditionally had to tolerate a rash of late withdrawals despite the tournament boasting a two-million-euro prize fund.

Lleyton Hewitt, as well as former champions Marat Safin and Andre Agassi, also opted not to play leaving just five of the world's top ten in the French capital.—AFP