Kim Clijsters was forced to pull out of her Brisbane International semi-final against Daniela Hantuchova with a hip injury on Friday, but remained confident of making the Australian Open. Clijsters, the defending Australian Open champion, had taken the first set in Brisbane in a tiebreak but was down by a break of serve early in the second when she called for the trainer before taking an injury time out. She came back on court and tried to continue but conceded the match, the Slovak
winning 6-7 (4/7), 3-1 to move into the final against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
