Melbourne: Roger Federer pulled out of the Qatar Open with a sore back two weeks ago. On Wednesday, he got a free pass into the third round of the Australian Open when his scheduled opponent withdrew from Melbourne Park with a similar ailment.
"Surprising. I didn't know anything about it," the four-time Australian Open winner said of Andreas Beck's lower back strain. "He said he had a lot of painkillers and pain during the last match.
"Now I'll just take it easy this afternoon and come out tomorrow and hit intensely, and then I'll be ready for the next match."
Beck said he was practicing and "made a wrong step."
"I couldn't serve, so I think it doesn't make sense to play, especially now against Roger," he said. "For me, it's the best decision. It's the beginning of the season and I have to be careful."
The second-round match had been scheduled for Melbourne Park's second court, Hisense Arena, which would have marked the first time since 2004 — a span of 52 matches — that Federer had played somewhere besides 15,000-seat Rod Laver Arena.
"I knew it's been a long time since I've been on there ... but at Wimbledon and at the French we always go at the second court," Federer said. "I wasn't disappointed to hear that I was going to play there."
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