MELBOURNE, Australia, 14 January 2005 — Andre Agassi’s participation in the Australian Open was thrown into doubt yesterday when a recurring hip injury forced him to quit his Kooyong Classic match against Andy Roddick.
The injury, which kept him out of Wimbledon last year, struck again in the first set, which he was losing 6-5, leaving the master showman in a race against time to be fit for the season-starting Grand Slam starting here Monday.
“I felt tight on one ball in the middle of the set,” said the 34-year-old eight-time Grand Slam champion. “I don’t remember how it happened. I felt a sharp pain.
“When I sat down on the changeover I had a hard time lifting the leg to stand. It was starting to tighten and not getting any better by the minute.”
The former world No. 1, seeded eighth for the Open, admitted that his Australian Open chances were up in the air.
His withdrawal handed his young American compatriot a place in the tomorrow’s final of the eight-man Grand Slam tune-up tournament.
Roddick will face the winner of the clash between world No. 1 Roger Federer and Tim Henman who play today.
In the consolation round here, defending champion David Nalbandian defeated fellow Argentine Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-1.
Top-Seeded Farina Elia Ousted€
In Canberra, Australia, top-seeded Silvia Farina Elia was upset by Ukrainian Yuliana Fedak in yesterday’s quarterfinals at the Canberra Classic women’s tennis tournament.
Fedak reeled off five of the last six games for a 6-2, 6-4 win and advanced to a semifinal against Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic, who was leading Marion Bartoli 6-1, 2-0 when the fourth-seeded Frenchwoman retired because of a minor hamstring strain.
In other quarterfinals, American Lindsay Lee-Waters had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Germany’s Anca Barna and will face Hungary’s Melinda Czink in the semifinals. Czink beat Germany’s Marlene Weingartner 6-3, 6-4.
Dulko, Zheng Into Hobart Final
In Hobart, Australia, second-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina had a 7-5, 6-2 win over third-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic yesterday and moved into final at the Morilla International women’s tennis tournament against China’s Zheng Jie.
Zheng rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Li Na in an all-Chinese semifinal.
Dulko, 19, showed some nerves in the first set but got her serve working at the start of the second and dominated the rest of her semifinal against Benesova.
Zheng had to work hard to overcome Li, who upset No. 1-seeded Amy Frazier in straight sets in the first round.
