Kim Clijsters
© AFP David HancockSYDNEY (AFP) - The US Open champion, tipped as an early favourite for the season's first Grand Slam, was warming up for her night match with Italian Francesca Schiavone when she complained of sharp pains in her groin and hip area.
Clijsters said she would have scans early Thursday before deciding whether to press ahead with preparations for next week's Australian Open in Melbourne.
The Belgian said she had been troubled by a sore back since her flight from a tournament in Hong Kong last weekend and had experienced hip problems during last year's European clay court season.
It capped a disastrous day for organisers at the Sydney International with Clijsters, who bounced back from a career-threatening injury to win her first Grand Slam in September, becoming the third player to withdraw from the women's tournament.
Russian fourth seed Nadia Petrova pulled out before her quarter-final with Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne with an adductor strain. Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova retired during her match with Czech Nicole Vaidisova, with a gastro-intestinal illness.
Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was the only player to qualify for the semi-finals with a win, beating Serbia's Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 to set up a meeting with former world number one Henin-Hardenne.
Afterwards, the Russian said she was getting back to her best after a disappointing season last year, admitting that she couldn't handle the adulation following her upset win in the 2004 US Open.
Aged only 19, she beat Mary Pierce, Nadia Petrova, Lindsay Davenport and compatriot Elena Dementieva to become the lowest ranked seed at nine to win in New York in the Open era (post 1968).
"I didn't expect this big jump in 2004, it was too much for me and I put too much pressure on myself," Kuznetsova said.
"I didn't know how to deal with everything and I was not mature enough. I had a lot of downs and not many ups last year."
Last year the Russian tumbled from a career-high ranking of four late in 2004 to 18th.
But Kuznetsova, rejuvenated by two months' training, is fit again and keen to start 2006 with a clean slate.
"I want to come into the net, I want to slice, I want to change my game so it's interesting for people to watch and enjoy, and to be tough for my opponents," she said.
Kuznetsova gave credit to Ivanovic, saying the windy conditions on centre court made her a tougher opponent.
"It was much harder to beat her in the wind because it suits her game much more than me as she plays flat," she said.
"The key for me was to serve well and just keep attacking, not to go back to the baseline."
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