World number one Roger Federer of Switzerland gestures during a news conference announcing his withdrawal from the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Basel October 26, 2004. [Reuters]

Roger Federer pulled out of the Swiss Indoors after hurting his left thigh in a practice session Tuesday, while Taylor Dent and Paradorn Srichaphan exited with upset losses.

The top-ranked Federer will need to rest up to two weeks and could miss the Paris Masters and season-ending Tennis Masters Cup, which starts November 17 in Houston.

As a kid, Federer was a ball boy at this tournament, which he's never won.

"This is a huge disappointment for me, clearly," said Federer, the first man since 1988 to win three Grand Slam titles in a season. "But all I can do is wait again until next year."

The man who replaced him in the draw, Bohdan Ulihrach, reached the second round when Luis Horna quit with lower back pain after losing the first set 6-1.

Dent was toppled by wild card Ivo Heuberger 6-2, 6-3, while Srichaphan was eliminated by Stefan Koubek 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3.

"It was a long match, and he just did better," said Srichaphan, ranked 25th in the world, 67 spots above Koubek. "I won the first set, but after that he turned everything around."

Also, French Open champion Gaston Gaudio beat qualifier Dick Norman 7-6 (3), 6-4, fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo edged qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4, and Jiri Novak defeated Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-3.  

(Agencies)

pull out: to leave or depart（離開，退出）

thigh: the portion of the human leg between the hip and the knee（大腿, 股）

topple: to push or throw over; overturn or overthrow（傾倒）