Williams, Kuznetsova gain from dropouts

The Australian Open turned into a war of attrition on Monday, but for once the heat
wasn't the culprit.
Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova were handed quarter-final berths - and the
chance to meet each other - courtesy of illness and injury.
Kuznetsova waltzed into the quarters when 22nd seed Jie Zheng was forced to withdraw
with a sprained wrist with the Russian leading 4-1.
Williams' opponent, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, woke up feeling nauseous but
defied doctors' orders and the effects of a virus right up until she almost fainted
on court in the second set.
If she was bothered by illness she didn't show it, scything through the first set
6-3 as Williams looked on helplessly.
But the energy quickly drained from her in the second set and while the American
second seed ran up a 4-2 lead Azarenka's movements became lethargic as she sought
out shady spots on the court in a vain bid to recover.
In the end she said there was no point in continuing.
"I started really feeling sick in the morning already. I woke up at 6am and I was
throwing up all the morning and just felt weak," Azarenka said.
"They said it was kind of a virus because I had a pretty high fever. We don't really
know what it is."
The 19-year-old from Minsk was despondent she could not persevere a little longer
after her first set win but admitted she was close to passing out.
"It's very disappointing for me that I played that well and couldn't handle a little
bit more because it was really close," she said.
"I could have been up 2-0 in the second ... you never know, maybe I would still keep
going with the same energy. But whatever happens, happens, you just have to accept
that.
"The doctors didn't want me to keep going but I wanted to keep trying and see how I
do, but it was probably not a very good idea because it just gave me even more
trouble."
Williams was concerned when her opponent began to wilt although she had her ankle
retaped in preparation for a three-set match.
"Honestly I got worried," Williams said.
"I was like, `oh my goodness', because she started like walking really slow. The
last thing she wanted to do, to me, would be fall. It was just weird, I was actually
really worried."
Jie Zheng was shattered when she was hit by a mystery wrist problem in the first set
against Kuznetsova.
She will have a scan on Tuesday to try to determine the problem but said it was the
first time she had had to withdraw from a tournament.
"This is my first time in the fourth round of the Australian Open," she said.
"Today is Chinese New Year and I hoped I could win this match. It's so bad I'm
injured."
She said pain in her left hand prevented her from continuing during the fifth game.
"I tried to play but I couldn't use my left hand," she said. "Trying to hit hard on
my backhand was very painful, I couldn't use any power."
In the other quarter-final clashes Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro ousted countrywoman
Anabel Medina Garrigues, the No.21 seed, 6-3 6-2 and Russian Elena Dementieva, the
hottest player on tour, crushed Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-2.
Dementieva started the season with back-to-back wins in Auckland and Sydney but
denies she is the favourite for the title. She says third seed Dinara Safina is the
pick.
"Dinara has made the biggest improvement since last year so she's probably the
favourite to win. But there is still Serena and there are a lot of good players
here, it's going to be a tough competition."