KEY POINTS:
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis will replace world No.1 Roger Federer in the Kooyong Classic starting in Melbourne tomorrow.
Federer was forced to withdraw from the Open lead-up tournament after becoming ill with a stomach complaint shortly after arriving at the weekend.
German Tommy Haas has also pulled out of the eight-man Kooyong event due to a leg problem.
Haas, who reached the semi-finals at last year's Australian Open, was replaced in the Classic field by Russian world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko.
Federer has been told by doctors to rest and is waiting on the result of blood tests.
However, the reigning Australian champion says he expects to begin practising later this week and feels his campaign for a fourth Open crown remains on track.
The Kooyong Classic will open tomorrow when Davydenko meets Baghdatis in the first match.
That will be followed by the clash between American Andy Roddick and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
In other matches tomorrow, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez meets Argentinian David Nalbandian and Britain's Andy Murray plays Russian Marat Safin.
- AAP