World number one Roger Federer has decided not to participate in next week's Kooyong Classic, leaving the exhibition tournament in search of an eighth player ahead of Wednesday's first group matches.
It is only the second time the Swiss star has missed the Australian Open warm-up in the past seven years. The other time he did not play was in 2008 when he was forced to withdraw the day before the tournament due to sickness.
Federer was defeated by Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals at the Qatar Open during the week and will not play another competitive match before he begins his Australian Open campaign on Monday, January 18.
Kooyong Classic tournament director Colin Stubs will now spend the next 48 hours exploring the best possible option for the eighth spot in the star-studded field.
Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez and Tommy Haas have already been training in Melbourne, while Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco are all expected to arrive later today.