 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Kim Clijsters suffered an injury scare ahead of her Australian Open defence when she was forced to retire from her Brisbane International semi-final against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova on Friday.
Clijsters had fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set to win a tiebreak but took an injury timeout after the third game of the second set, which Hantuchova was leading 2-1, for treatment on an apparent hip injury.
The 28-year-old four-times grand-slam champion returned but lost the next game and then retired.
Hantuchova, who received a walkover into the semi-finals after Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament with an ankle injury, will meet either Francesca Schiavone or Kaia Kanepi in the final on Saturday.
In the men's draw, top seed Andy Murray looked far sharper than in his earlier matches and romped into the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Marcos Baghdatis.
The world number four, bidding to break his grand-slam drought at the Australian Open in Melbourne later this month, had been less than convincing in his two previous matches but was ruthless against the Cypriot.
The 24-year-old Briton broke the former Australian Open finalist's serve four times and served out in 66 minutes.
The Scot was pleased with his movement around the court.
Murray will now meet Bernard Tomic after the Australian teenager beat Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-6.
Saturday's semi-final will be the first for Tomic at an ATP Tour-level tournament though Murray said he would not be taking the 19-year-old lightly.
