World No.3 Roger Federer was as surprised as anyone when he found out Andreas Beck was withdrawing from their second-round clash at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Beck pulled out of the match before a ball had been hit after suffering a lower back injury earlier in the week.
The German's withdrawal gifted Federer an easy ride into the third round at Melbourne Park, and the Swiss star sympathised with Beck's predicament.
"I didn't know anything about it. I saw him in the locker room, and he came up to me. I was like 'Hey, what's going on?' He said, 'I'm not so good actually. I have a bad back.' It came as a surprise," Federer said.
"He said he had a lot painkillers and pain during the last match. I think it happened four, five days ago."
"He doesn't want to risk it early in the season, best of five sets against me. Nothing he could have done, even though he would love to play against me. I guess it's the only smart decision for him to take."
While disappointed he did not get to play, Federer was confident the lack of time on court would not affect him in the long run.
"I would have loved to play. Feel sorry for the fans, you know, who were excited to see me on Hisense (Arena) today," he said.
"I was ready to go. I was just coming for my warm-up hit, so I was completely focusing on the match."
"So from that standpoint, the energy was there. Now I'll just take it easy this afternoon and come out tomorrow and hit intensely tomorrow, and then I'll be ready for the next match."
The match would have been Federer's first away from the comfort of Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open since the second round in 2004, but despite rumours to the contrary, the 16-time Grand Slam winner said he would have been more than happy to play on Hisense Arena.
"I knew it's been a long time ... but I mean, at Wimbledon and at the French we always go at the second court," he said.
"It's just here and at the US Open where with the night sessions they have more night sessions and more space for men's matches on the centre court that it's really difficult for you to be moved out."
"But when the draws are such that me and Rafa (Nadal) are in the same section, and you have Tomic, I guess, I expect it to happen."
"Especially when I saw that Rafa played at Hisense the first day, I expected my second-round match was going to be there, too."
"I was excited. I wasn't disappointed to hear that I was going to play there, to be quite honest."