Belgium's Kim Clijsters suffered an injury scare before battling into the last four of the Australian Open Wednesday, as Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero secured his place in the semis.
Second seed Clijsters aggravated her sore ankle during an error-strewn 6-2, 7-6 (11/9) quarter-final victory over Russian sixth seed Anastasia Myskina at the Rod Laver Arena.
Clijsters, who needed prolonged treatment with a medical time-out before recovering from 4-1 down in the second set to win, has barely 24 hours' rest before Thursday's semi with Switzerland's Patty Schnyder.
With no Australian players left in either the men's or women's draw, Clijsters is the closest thing to a home hope for local fans thanks to her engagement to Australian former world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Hewitt, who bowed out of the competition on Monday night, was in the crowd watching nervously as Clijsters underwent treatment.
Clijsters -- and most of Australia -- are now keeping their fingers crossed there is no further reaction overnight to the player's ankle.
Any withdrawal from Clijsters would further weaken a field already missing last year's winner Serena Williams as well as former champions, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Mary Pierce.
"I'll have to see how it reacts tomorrow," Clijsters said. "I will try to ice it as much as I can today and maybe take some painkillers and anti-flammatories tomorrow to try and keep the swelling down."
Clijsters said she would be willing to risk her ankle if she felt able to play. "I have a week off after this so I might as well go for it and give myself a shot," she said.
"But on the other hand if I can't walk tomorrow it's stupid to go out there. I'm going to get it taped, see how it's feeling and test it," said Clijsters, the 20-year-old world number two. |