AFP

LONDON, Jul 2 : Four-time champion Roger Federer of Switzerland was on Sunday handed a bye to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon when fourth-round opponent Tommy Haas was forced to pull out through injury.

Haas, the 13th seed, suffered a torn abdominal muscle in his four-set victory over Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the third round at the All England Club.

World number one Federer will play the winner of the match between Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero and Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the last eight as he bids for a fifth straight Wimbledon title, equalling the modern-day record of Bjorn Borg.

"I felt it in my previous match," Haas explained.

"I'm just going to go home now and get this thing under control. I will follow the rest of the tournament on TV.

"I wish I could have been on Centre Court but it's not to be. The way I was playing I think I'm one of the guys who could have been dangerous for Roger. It would have been a nice opportunity."

This was Haas' first tournament since retiring in the opening round of the Masters Series event in Rome in May with a shoulder injury.

The 29-year-old has been plagued by injury problems, missing Wimbledon in 2002 and the whole of 2003 with shoulder injuries.