"The last step with me, I would fall over."Īzarenka had looked like causing yet another huge shock at this year's Open when she dominated Williams, a three-time champion, in the first set. "I was trying to keep going as much as possible, but there is nothing you can do. "It's very disappointing for me that I played that well and I couldn't handle a little bit more because it was really close games - could have been up 2-0 in the second."Īzarenka said that she felt close to collapsing when she pulled out, and the doctor had advised her during her medical time out against continuing. I felt a little bit better throughout the first set, a little bit of the second, then I just had no more energy to go on. "Once I got to the court, I went to see the doctor. "I woke up at 6am and I was throwing up all the morning and just felt weak. "I started really feeling sick in the morning," she said. The Belarussian called for a medical time out to get attention at 2-3 in the second set, but she could barely stand up between points after returning to the court, and she eventually walked to the net in tears to concede the match.Īzarenka, 19, said that she had woken up ill and had been sick all day. Williams, the No.2, from the United States, trailed 3-6 4-2 when Azarenka, the No.13 seed, from Belarus, retired with illness.Īzarenka, the 2005 Australian junior champion, had broken Williams twice to win the first set and was down a break in the second when she appeared to become distressed.
While the Russian was firmly in control of her match, Williams, was being given a torrid fight by Victoria Azarenka.
I'm just going to go out there and just play my same game.'' "I don't think there is huge space between players in the top eight or top 10," the Russian said. She was undaunted at the prospect of facing three-time Australian champion Williams, who is the bookies' favourite for this year's title. Kuznetsova's appearance in the last eight equals her best performance at the Australian Open in 2005. This pain, I hope, is not very dangerous." "I felt sorry for her because she was in great shape," the Monte Carlo-based 23-year-old said. The Russian said she felt in control of the match before Zheng pulled out, but she had sympathy for her opponent, whom she has defeated in both of their previous meetings. Kuznetsova, No.8 seed, from Russia, led No.22 seed Zheng Jie 4-1 in the fourth set when the Chinese, who had had her left wrist strapped early in the first set, was unable to continue. SERENA Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova have been gifted an armchair ride to an Australian Open quarter-final against each other, their fourth-round opponents both retiring injured from their matches.
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