Women’s world No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova has progressed into the quarterfinals of Australian Open 2009, advancing after her opponent Jie Zheng of China retired with a wrist injury when Kuznetsova was leading 4-1 in the first set.
Zheng, coming off a superb 2008 when she made the semifinals at Wimbledon, hurt her left wrist in the third game after she hit the ball and then fell over, landing awkwardly on her hand.
She then called for the trainer at the change of ends and bravely walked back onto the court in an attempt to continue.
Despite playing in only five games, Kuznetsova, the US Open champion in 2004, was always in control of the match, breaking the Chinese in the fourth game to gain a 3-1 lead.
“It was unfortunate she [Jie Zheng] [had] an injury,” Kuznetsova said post-match.
“But I think I started to play well. I've been attacking her serve. I think I was in control of the match.”
Kuznetsova will next play world No.2 Serena Williams, who advanced into the round of eight after her opponent, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, was also forced to retire; the third player to retire injured for the day.
“[It’s] definitely gonna be [a] hard [match]. I mean, she[’s] [Serena Williams] won many Grand Slams. She's very tough. She serves well. But definitely I'm confident in myself, and I just want to play my best and will go there with motivation, just fight with spirit hopefully,” she said.
Williams has a 4-1 lead over Kuznetsova, winning their last two encounters; the most recent in Miami in 2008.
“Yeah, it was great match, yeah. I had lots of fun. It was very exciting. Yeah, but then she came up playing better than me. But … I'm just going to go out there and play my best.”
Quick facts
The match lasted 30 minutes before Jie Zheng was forced to retire
Kuznetsova had 10 wins to her opponent’s seven
The Russian converted one of her four break point chances
Jie Zheng served the only ace of the match
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