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Back injury forces Federer to withdraw from Qatar Open

TENNIS/QATAR OPEN: Roger Federer yesterday pulled out of the Qatar Open but said his participation in the Australian Open was…

Sat Jan 07 2012 - 00:00

TENNIS/QATAR OPEN:Roger Federer yesterday pulled out of the Qatar Open but said his participation in the Australian Open was not under threat. The Swiss former world number one withdrew from his scheduled semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Doha citing a back injury.

He remains confident, however, he will be okay to play in the season’s opening Grand Slam event in Melbourne which gets under way on January 16th.

He said: “I hurt my back in my second-round match against (Grega) Zemlja and just got a little bit better for the match against (Andreas) Seppi. I still have pain, and that’s why it was the only right decision . . . I hope I can recover quickly. For Australia, I’m optimistic.”

Doha Monfils set up an all-French final as he overcame top seed Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 36 minutes.

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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL: Kim Clijsters faces a tight deadline to be fit in time for her Australian Open defence after she was forced to retired injured from her semi-final against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova yesterday.

Clijsters won the first set on a tiebreak but took an injury timeout after the third game of the second set, with Hantuchova leading 2-1, for treatment on a hip injury. The 28-year-old four-times Grand Slam champion returned but lost the next game and then retired with the score at 6-7 3-1.

Hantuchova, will meet Kaia Kanepi in the final after the Estonian beat Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-0 in 56 minutes.

In the Brisbane 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.

HOPMAN CUP:Petra Kvitova landed a psychological blow in her battle with Caroline Wozniacki for the world number one ranking with a gripping three-set victory that helped the Czech Republic to beat Denmark and reach the final.

Kvitova will dethrone Wozniacki in top spot if she wins the Sydney International next week. Her 7-6 3-6 6-4 win at the Burswood Dome was the ideal build-up to the Sydney tournament and, even more importantly, the Australian Open from January 16th.