Published>Sun, Jan 24 10 06:49 PM
Second seed Dinara Safina was forced to retire from her fourth-round match against Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open on Sunday after she suffered a recurrence of a persistent back injury.
Safina was trailing 30-40 while serving at 4-5 in the first set when she went to hit a forehand, shook her head and told the umpire she could not continue.
A visibly upset world number two said at a post-match news conference, where she could barely move and was unable to sit comfortably, that the injury was the same as the one that forced her out of the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha last year.
"Exactly the same like in Doha. Exactly the same," she said. "I just cannot move anywhere.
"I mean, the physio asked me to lie on the table. I said, 'I cannot lie. I cannot make any movement'. Whatever I try to move, it hurts terribly."
Safina said she had felt a slight twinge while practising before Sunday's match but had been told by her doctor in Germany to expect some discomfort while playing.
"My doctor told me I could sometimes have some discomfort in that spot, as I had bone oedema, maybe I could not use full power," she said.
"Today I warmed up, it was fine. I was cooling down and I start to feel a little more pain.
"Suddenly I played a long game at 3-2. I won the game (but) I turned to my coach (Zeljko Krajan) and said: 'I cannot move any more.' My coach told me at 4-3 to retire. I'm like: 'Okay, I'm going to try'. But it's no way."
Safina admitted she might have done more damage to her back by continuing to play the match.
"You know, you always hope that it cannot get worse. If it would be the same, you think: 'Okay, like pain killer, whatever, it can help". You always hope. Now I see I did worse."
Safina, who said she could not even pack her own bags, will return to Germany to see her doctor when she can travel comfortably and said she did not know when she might be able to return to the WTA Tour.
Kirilenko will now meet China's Zheng Jie in the quarter-finals.
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