AKIPRESS.COM - Roger Federer became the second of the world’s top four to pull out of the Madrid Masters on Tuesday as he has decided to stay at home with his wife as they await the birth of their third child, Arab News reported.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion’s withdrawal comes just two days after world number two Novak Djokovic also decided not to compete in the Spanish capital due to a wrist injury.

Federer’s withdrawal could benefit Wimbledon champion Andy Murray as the Scot is now the highest seeded player left in the second quarter of the draw.

Murray will face Nicolas Almagro in his first match at the Caja Magica on Wednesday after the Spaniard needed 11 match points to finally see off Kazakh qualifier Andrey Golubev 6-3, 6-7 (9/11), 7-6 (7/4).

Fifth seed David Ferrer also needed three sets to overcome fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Li Na and Maria Sharapova moved into round three with wins on Tuesday.

Sharapova won her first tournament of the season on her return to clay in Stuttgart two weeks ago and looked in fine form as she raced through the first set 6-1.

However, McHale went onto take the second 6-4 and led 4-1 in the decider only for Sharapova to respond by reeling off five straight games to set up a meeting with 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur in the last 16.

Earlier, Australian Open champion Li had a more simple task as she swept aside fellow Chinese Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-3.

Zheng led the head-to-head record between the two 4-3 before the match, but Li has now won the last four meetings between the pair in straight sets and will face 16th seed Sloane Stephens in the next round.