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Peng Shuai advances as Petrova quits
The injury bug that bit Andre Agassi in Melbourne appeared to travel about 900 kilometers (550 miles) to the Sydney Olympic tennis complex yesterday. Its most high-profile victim was Lindsay Davenport. While Agassi's hip injury forced him out of the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament in Melbourne, throwing his Australian Open plans in doubt, five players, including top-seeded Davenport, pulled out of matches at the Sydney International. Davenport, who withdrew from the Hopman Cup 10 days ago to give her injured knee extra time to heal, said she was suffering from bronchitis and had to forfeit her quarter-final match against Australian Samantha Stosur yesterday. "I've been sick all week, and I woke up this morning feeling a lot worse," Davenport said in a hoarse voice. "I tried to warm up, but I was struggling with my energy and trying to catch my breath. "At some point you've got to stop. My energy level was about 30 per cent. Hopefully antibiotics and rest will all help." She remains optimistic she'll be able to play in Melbourne. "I know it's just before a Grand Slam, but sometimes you are dealt the hand that you're given," she said. "It's really bad luck. I'm thankful that I have a few more days to have it clear up. I'm very hopeful." Elsewhere, Max Mirnyi of Belarus took advantage of a retirement by his opponent for the second day in a row when American Taylor Dent, suffering from dizziness and tiredness, pulled out of his singles quarter-final. "I was feeling a little bit lightheaded, dizzy, and my energy was going pretty fast," said Dent. "The doctor thinks maybe I'm just a little run down. I think I did the right thing, and I think I should be all right for Melbourne." The eighth-seeded Dent was leading 4-3 and up a break when he decided that he could not continue. Sweden's Joachim Johansson retired from his match against Mirnyi on Wednesday with a hamstring injury. He said he was hopeful of playing in Melbourne. Fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia also pulled out of her match with Peng Shuai of China on Thursday. Petrova, trailing 6-3, 4-2, said she was uncomfortable in the heat and could not continue.
Paes, playing with Nenan Zimonjic of Serbia-Montenegro, turned his foot awkwardly returning a shot while up 3-1 in the first set against fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi and Australian Todd Woodbridge. ATP Tour trainer Bill Norris said it was too early to say whether Paes' Australian Open plans with Navratilova would have to be scrapped, and that Paes would undergo scans in the next 24 hours. In 2003, Navratilova and Paes won the Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed doubles titles. It was Navratilova's 20th Wimbledon title, tying the record set by Billie Jean King. Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic pulled out of his doubles match Thursday with stomach problems, enabling the Russian pair of Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko to advance against Berdych and fellow Czech player Radek Stepanek. In a singles match that went the distance yesterday, third-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. She'll play Stosur in the semi-finals today. Fourth-seeded Alicia Molik of Australia beat Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia 6-1, 6-2 and will play Peng. In men's quarter-finals, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt beat 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-1, 7-6 (4). Hewitt, a three-time winner in Sydney, will play Mirnyi in the semi-finals today. Stepanek beat Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in another quarter-final. He'll play Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic in the semi-finals after Minar's 2-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4 upset win yesterday over fourth-seeded Andrei Pavel of Romania. Zheng reaches final 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 in Hobart, Australia. Zheng rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Li Na in an all-Chinese semi-final. 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 semi-final against Benesova. Zheng had to work hard to overcome Li, who upset No 1-seeded Amy Frazier in straight sets in the first round.
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