Clijsters concedes semi-final after injury

Kim Clijsters was forced to pull out of her Brisbane International semi-final against Daniela Hantuchova with a hip injury yesterday.

Clijsters, the defending Australian Open champion, had taken the first set in Brisbane in a tiebreak but was down by a break of serve early in the second when she called for the trainer before taking an injury time out.

She came back on court and tried to continue but conceded the match, the Slovak winning 6-7, 3-1 to move into the final against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Kanepi progressed when she beat third seed Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0, with the Italian also needing treatment after becoming ill during the second set with a stomach upset.

Clijsters said she felt the muscles in her left hip tighten during the first set against Hantuchova yesterday and opted for caution with the first Slam of the year only nine days away.

“I couldn’t go forward and I couldn’t put any pressure on when I was going for my serve, it was just spasm-ing up and it was getting worse throughout the first set,” she said.

“The smartest choice was to not let it get any worse.”

Clijsters will have an MRI today to determine the seriousness of the injury.

She is the second high-profile casualty of the Brisbane International following Serena Williams’s ankle sprain in the second round.

Hantuchova also benefited from that injury with Williams withdrawing from their quarter-final, handing the Slovak passage into the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, men’s top seed Andy Murray finally found top gear as he demolished doubles partner Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets in the Brisbane quarter-finals, yesterday.

Murray exploded out of the blocks to break the Cypriot’s first two service games and never looked back as he wrapped up the match 6-2, 6-2 in just 65 minutes.

The world number four will now play rising Australian Bernard Tomic in the semi-finals after the 19-year-old eighth seed disposed of Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-6.