Federer pulls out of Halle meet

Berlin: Roger Federer pulled out of the Halle grasscourt tournament on Monday a day after losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal, tournament officials said on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_21496” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Federer wants to rest his body before Wimbledon. Getty Images”]  [/caption] “I’ve unfortunately had to pull out of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. I am very disappointed as it is one of my favourite tournaments on the ATP World Tour, but my body and especially my groin need a rest after the French Open,” said the Swiss world number three. Nadal racked up a record-equalling sixth French Open beating his rival in four sets on Sunday. “After talking with my team this morning, I feel that it is too big a risk to take a chance and aggravate it before Wimbledon,” said the five-times Halle champion in a statement to tournament organisers who were left fuming. “All the plans throughout the year were almost exclusively focused on Roger’s start here,” said tournament director Ralf Weber. “He also never indicated that there could be health problems there. I made my disappointment clear to his management.” The small Halle event is seen as a lower-key Wimbledon preparation event than the Queen’s Club tournament in London. Reuters