TENNIS: Marat Safin pulled out of the Sydney International with an injured shoulder yesterday to leave Juan Carlos Ferrero as the last remaining men's seed in the final warm-up tournament before the Australian Open.
The giant Russian withdrew from his quarter-final with Korean qualifier Lee Hyung-taik in the hope of recovering in time for the first grand slam of the year.
"I need to stop for a few days . . . but I hope I will be okay," said Safin. "(The doctor) said it's quite serious and it was better to stop right now."
World number three, Safin's withdrawal provided Lee with a free ride into today's semi-finals where he will meet Wayne Ferreira, who crushed Franco Squillari 6-0, 6-4.
Ferrero is the only seeded player left in the men's draw after he blasted aside Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-1 in brilliant fashion.
The Spaniard, runner-up at last year's French Open and season-ending Masters Cup, will play Rainer Schuettler for a place in tomorrow's final after the German beat Mardy Fish 7-6, 6-4.
Currently ranked fourth in the world, Ferrero has his sights set on overtaking Lleyton Hewitt for the number one spot. "I know if I play well here I can get close to number one," he said.
"Marat retired today and I won so maybe I'm closer to number three. I'm going step by step."
While the men's draw has been hit hard by big-name casualties, the women's tournament has thrown up an intriguing semi-final showdown between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Clijsters crushed Chanda Rubin 6-1, 6-2 while newly-wed Henin-Hardenne had a tougher workout from Amanda Coetzer before triumphing 6-4, 6-4 to set up an all-Belgian semi-final.
"Kim and me, we are both fighters and we want to prove that Belgium is a small country but you can make great things in a small country," Henin-Hardenne said.
Russian giant-killer Tatiana Panova, who knocked out top seed Jennifer Capriati in the first round, booked her place in the semi-finals with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Olga Barabanschikova.
She will play Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals after the former world number one beat fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.
Sporting a big diamond ring following her engagement to her coach Rick Leach's younger brother Jon, a leaner and fitter Davenport clawed her way back from 4-2 down in the final set to win the deciding tie-breaker.
"It feels great to be able to come back and win a close one," she said. "I've played a lot of close ones and you win some and you lose some so I've come to the conclusion that it comes down to luck."
Davenport, who reigned as world number one for 38 weeks from October 1998 to February 1999, played with her left thigh strapped after feeling some stiffness in the morning.
"It was a little stiff this morning after my late match the night before (with compatriot Lisa Raymond) but I moved well tonight and didn't feel it at all," she said.
Davenport, who missed the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon last year with her right knee injury, said she was feeling fit after working hard in preparation for the Australian Open.
