Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Serena serene about withdrawals impacting on her focus as she bids to defend Brisbane title

SERENA Williams insists she will "fight" to defend her Brisbane International title after three women's second-round matches on Wednesday were called off due to injury and illness.
Two women's matches were walkovers, stripping the day program of matches which were to feature seeds Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki, and one that did get on court was ended by an injury-forced retirement in the second set.
German Angelique Kerber advanced to the last eight at Tennyson when Russian opponent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova quit when behind 2-6, 3-4 with an injured and bandaged left thigh.
World No.4 Sharapova, who wants matches in her comeback tournament from a shoulder injury, reached the quarter-finals while playing two sets of tennis when Queensland qualifier Ash Barty withdrew with a torn left adductor.
She will play Estonia's former Brisbane champion Kaia Kanepi on Thursday morning at Pat Rafter Arena.
Most contentiously, world No.10 Caroline Wozniacki pulled out of Brisbane with a shoulder injury on Sunday, but 48 hours later had been in Sydney on New Year's Eve to accept golfer Rory McIlroy's marriage proposal.

Happy New Year everyone! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!! My first victory of 2014 !!
Their couple's Twitter followers saw pictures of them smiling with fireworks and the Harbour Bridge in the background and yesterday she was hitting at Ken Rosewall Arena for next week's tournament there, a turn of events which will interest Brisbane spectators who stumped up for tickets.
Wimbledon runner-up Lisicki earlier pulled out of the Brisbane International with a gastro illness and Pavlyuchenkova became the fifth player to withdraw from the Queensland Tennis Centre tournament since Sunday.
The Brisbane and Sydney tournaments are annually struck by withdrawal from players adamant they will leave nothing to chance with their Grand Slam preparations.
"It's always sad to see people leave the tournament but it's still a great tournament and there's still great people involved in the tournament," said Williams, who defaulted a match at the Brisbane International in 2012 with an ankle.
"It's always important to try to start (the season) healthy, but no one is ever super healthy. I have been injured my past two Aussie Opens, so I would like to go one without getting injured.
Serena lets her hair down as she traverses Brisbane River on a cruise boat on New Y...
Serena lets her hair down as she traverses Brisbane River on a cruise boat on New Year’s Day.Source: Getty Images
"I'm happy to be here and I'm fighting for it."
Twelve months after a limping Williams pulled out of the Brisbane tournament, Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka gave Williams a walkover in their 2013 semi-final due to pain from a pedicure.
Williams said she expects her quarter-final opponent today, Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, to provide a tough match.
Australian teenagers Barty and Nick Kyrgios (shoulder) checked out of this week's Brisbane event over the previous two days to maximise their chances of playing at the Australian Open from January 13.
On the upside, with the players remaining, there will be a Pat Rafter Arena quarter-final between two top-10 players, Jelena Jankovic and Kerber.
Lisicki told tournament organisers she was not well enough to play her second-round match against Swiss player Stepfanie Voegele.
Lisicki pulled out of the event with a gastro illness, one of three withdrawals on the wom...
Lisicki pulled out of the event with a gastro illness, one of three withdrawals on the women’s side.Source: AP
Tournament director Cameron Pearson said Lisicki was unable to keep any food down yesterday morning.
Barty had a scan today which will determine if she can play in the Australian Open as a wildcard from January 13-26.
The Ipswich 17-year-old suffered the injury during a doubles match on Tuesday and gave Sharapova a walkover.
Kerber has a theory of why the lead-up tournaments in Australian are so besieged by withdrawals.
"You have like six weeks off (in the off-season and then) you are practising, and actually the matches are so much different than the practice," ninth-ranked Kerber said.

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