Tennis

Top seed Maria Sharapova was lucky to reach the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals after her second-round opponent Anna-Lena Groenefeld retired with an ankle injury while leading 6-1 4-2. The unseeded German was 4-1 ahead in the second set when she slipped and...

Top seed Maria Sharapova was lucky to reach the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals after her second-round opponent Anna-Lena Groenefeld retired with an ankle injury while leading 6-1 4-2.

The unseeded German was 4-1 ahead in the second set when she slipped and twisted her left ankle. Until her injury, Groenefeld had dominated the world number one, outplaying Sharapova from the start.

The Florida-based Russian, who was making her Kremlin Cup debut, was broken three times in the opening set, losing her serve to love in the third and seventh games.

¤ Marat Safin will launch the defence of his Australian Open title at the Hopman Cup. Safin will team up with former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a Russian team seeded number one for the annual mixed team event. Argentina, represented by 2004 French Open winner Gaston Gaudio and Gisela Dulko, were seeded second ahead of the host-nation Australia and the United States. Germany, Belarus and Serbia and Montenegro were also guaranteed places in the eight-team draw while the Netherlands and China will play-off for the last spot.

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