Roger leads rescue mission

While 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson will fly from his home in Monte Carlo to China as standby, the tournament's organising committee questioned Agassi's decision to pull out.

Amid the furore on Tuesday, two times defending champion Federer happened to agree that criticism from organisers was fully justified.

"I think criticism is allowed at this point," said Federer after his three set victory over Ljubicic, the match of the week thus far.

"They signed a three-year deal. I understand the big disappointment from the government, from the tournament, from the fans."

Agassi pulled out on Monday citing an ankle injury after a 6-4 6-2 defeat by Nikolay Davydenko of Russia. The American's withdrawal came just 30 minutes after French Open champion Nadal pulled out through injury. Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt - qualifiers for the championships - decided not to compete due to injury and personal reasons.

Federer sought to heal any potential rift by praising Agassi, the player he beat in September's U.S. Open final, for trying to play on his sore ankle sustained in a racquetball game.

"I don't know how bad it really was...but I think it's still great that he shows up and tried," said 24-year-old Federer. "Maybe the other guys could have tried too.

"I don't know. I don't think so because they know their bodies."

Federer, himself was on crutches just three weeks ago after hurting his ankle in practice, has beaten Argentina's David Nalbandian and Croat Ljubicic to earn a semi-final berth from the Red Group.