By DPA,
Auckland : German Philipp Kohlschreiber faces a fitness fight for Monday’s start of the Australian Open after he pulled out before his Thursday quarter-final of the Heineken Open with a shoulder injury.
Defending champion Kohlschreiber’s pullout handed a walkover to Spanish second seed David Ferrer and prevented a challenge between the last two winners of the ATP event.
Kohlschreiber, seeded fifth, felt his shoulder during a Wednesday win over Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain after travelling from Europe last week relying on painkillers for his tendon problem.
He beat Dominik Hrbaty in the first round thanks to an injection.
The number 33 was to have a scan on the problem in Auckland. “I felt fine after last night,” he said. “But after five minutes of my warm-up I had big pain.
“It was there no matter what shot I was playing.”
Ferrer will play Friday for a finals spot against American Sam Querrey, who beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-2. Argentine top seed Juan Del Potro posted the same score over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.