Kirilenko through after Safina withdraws

Maria Kirilenko has advanced to her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final after Australian Open 2009 runner-up Dinara Safina was forced to withdraw from their fourth round match on Sunday night.

Kirilenko was leading 5-4 in an opening set that had lasted just over an hour when the world No.2 quit with a back injury.

“It suddenly hit me. It was getting worse and worse. I have no idea really how it could happen. It's really, really terrible,” a teary Safina explained after the match.

The No.2 seed said she could no longer continue to play the match as she struggled to move, and described the pain as the same she suffered in Doha last year.

“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,” she said.

Before her withdrawal, Safina looked dangerous in the opening game of the match as she came out charging, breaking Kirilenko’s serve with a powerful backhand cross-court winner. She continued to apply pressure on Kirilenko’s serve in the third game, pushing her far behind the baseline as she could with deep groundstrokes. The second seed had a chance to gain a double break, but could not convert as Kirilenko held, securing the game with a forehand volley winner.

In an intense sixth game, Kirilenko worked Safina hard, ramping up the pressure on her compatriot. The 58th-ranked Kirilenko blew her chances to break as Safina managed to stave off six break points, eventually holding her serve with a smash to lead 4-2.

Kirilenko, who upset Maria Sharapova in the first round, clawed her way back into the match, winning the next three games to jump to a 5-4 lead. With Kirilenko at set point, Safina suddenly walked off the court, retiring from the match.

Post-match, Kirilenko said that she was left with bittersweet feelings after making the final eight of a major for the first time.

“Yeah, I mean, of course it's nice [to reach the quarter-final]. I'm first time actually in the quarter-final. But I prefer, you know, to win and get ‑ like to win all match and get to the quarter-final than to win like this,” Kirilenko said.

Kirilenko, who turns 23 tomorrow, will meet China’s Jie Zheng, who is the first Chinese player ever to make the Australian Open singles quarter-finals. Zheng holds a 4-1 head-to-head lead over the Russian, and has won their past three encounters.

Fast facts

- Kirilenko had 13 winners to Safina’s 10.

- Safina made 22 unforced errors, one more than her opponent.

- Kirilenko won all nine points when she came to the net, while Safina was 1-for-6 on net approaches.

Current Match on Hisense Arena Hisense Arena - Women's Singles - 4th Round Maria Kirilenko RUS 40 5 Retired Dinara Safina RUS (2) 30 4 Match Statistics Serve Statistics