|
Clijsters injury scare on eve of Australian Open
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-16 11:33
MELBOURNE, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Kim Clijsters will need painkillers to play in
the Australian Open after problems with her injured hip surfaced on the eve of
the first grand slam of 2006.
The Belgian is still hoping to play in the
tournament but faces a race against time to get ready for her opening match
against Korean Cho Yoon-jeong on Tuesday.
"If it flares up again, that will be disappointing, of course. But hopefully
it won't," she told a news conference on Sunday.
Tournament organisers will no doubt be sweating on Clijsters' fitness after
losing Marat Safin, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal to injury amid growing
criticism over the timing of the event.
The Open is shaping as a survival of the fittest with most of the world's top
players still nursing injuries left from last year, prompting calls to move the
tournament from its traditional January slot to March.
The absence of Safin, Agassi and Nadal has left Roger Federer as the
overwhelming favourite to win the men's title while fitness worries have left
the women's event wide open.
Maria Sharapova is struggling with a shoulder problem before her opening
round match against Sandra Kloesel on Monday while there are lingering doubts
about the health of the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus.
Defending champion Serena plays China's Li Na on the Rod Laver centre court
while Venus meets Bulgaria's Tszvetana Pironkova on the Vodafone Arena.
Serena said it would be dangerous for her opponents to underestimate her
fitness levels.
"That's fine because then people will be, 'okay, well, she won't be able to
run'. That's a great position to be in," she said.
World number one Lindsay Davenport will kick off the tournament when she
plays Australian qualifier Casey Dellacqua in the opening match on centre court.
Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian, one of the few men with any realistic
hopes of beating Federer, plays Thai Danai Udomchoke while the big-serving Andy
Roddick faces Switzerland's Michael Lammer first up.
|
