LONDON, July 2 (Agencies): Roger Federer overcome a back injury to advance through to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon at the expense of Xavier Malisse 7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 this afternoon.
World number one Maria Sharapova has crashed out of Wimbledon after losing in straight sets to Sabine Lisicki 4-6,3-6.
The seven-time champion Federer looked as though he may be forced to retire during the opening set when he called for the trainer and a doctor.
However, having received some pain-killers, Federer returned to the court to take a one-set lead thanks to a 7-1 success in a tie-break.
He still appeared to be struggling with the complaint during the second set, particularly when serving. However, Malisse made several unforced errors which allowed the Swiss player to run out a 6-1 victor.
Sharapova made a strong start to the match, breaking her German opponent in the very first game. However, Lisicki fought back and broke Sharapova in the next to level the scores.
Sharapova lost her next service game to give Lisicki the initiative, but the Russian looked to have found a way back into the set by breaking the number 15 seed in the penultimate game.
