Australian Open 2011, Day 5: Venus Williams Retires With Injury; Roger Federer Back To Form

Just in time for our continued lamenting of the sorry state of American tennis at the Australian Open 2011, here’s video of an injured Venus Williams retiring from her third-round match. It’s not easy viewing or easy listening; she sounds like she’s in a lot of pain and looks as though it hurts just to stand.

With her sister out of the tournament thanks to injuries of her own and every other American woman knocked out by the end of the second round, this year will mark the fourth time in the Open era with nobody representing the USA in a major tournament round of 16. And with Serena ailing and Venus saying she won’t play again until she’s fully recovered, it could be a while before the American women have a Williams sister at the head of the pack to trail. Not that they should feel pressured to make an early comeback, mind: It’s the Williams sisters we’re talking about. They’ve got nothing left to prove at this point and are getting to the age where pressing on hurt could do irreversible damage to their frames.

Venus Williams lasted just six minutes in her third round Australian Open 2011 match before an injury to her pelvic muscle forced her to retire against Sandra Zahlavova. For Venus, it’s the first time an injury has ever forced her to retire from a Grand Slam, and the first time she’s retired from any match due to injury since August of 2004. She had played in 294 consecutive matches without an injury retirement before Friday.

Afterward, Williams spoke about the disappointment, and what she can take away from this Australian Open 2011 experience:

Scores and highlights from Day 5 of the Australian Open 2011. Here’s what went down Down Under in the women’s draw:

• No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki def. No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 6-3.

Wozniacki’s on cruise control, and rightly so: She’s never crashed out earlier than the third round in her four appearances at the Aussie Open. Should have a cakewalk in the fourth against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.

• No. 30 Andrea Petkovic def. No. 4 Venus Williams, 1-0 (Ret.)

That psoas injury was surmountable for one match, but not two. And even if Williams had powered through, she’d have had a whale of a time against Sharapova in the next round.

• No. 6 Francesca Schiavone def. Monica Niculescu, 6-0 7-6 (7-2).

At one point during the match, a graphic displayed Niculescu’s first name as “Minica.” This is probably what powered her to a would-be second-set comeback, but too late: Schiavone advances to take on No. 23 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

• No. 8 Victoria Azarenka def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-3 6-3.

It turns out that having a NOTY-caliber name isn’t a substitute for being really, really good at tennis. Next up for Azarenka: No. 9 Li Na.

• No. 23 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. No. 11 Justine Henin, 6-4 7-6 (10-8).

The day’s first upset in the women’s draw that didn’t involve a gruesome injury still featured one wounded party: Henin was nursing a sore elbow but emphasized afterwards that that was no excuse for her play. Kuznetsova will tackle Schiavone in Round 4.

• No. 14 Maria Sharapova def. Julia Goerges, 4-6 6-4 6-4.

Will you look at Miss Maria! Since winning in 2008, the best she’s done here is get herself knocked out in last year’s first round, but she’s got a nice little run going, and she gets to face Andrea Petkovic instead of Venus Williams for further advancement.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for more results and highlights from Day 5 of the 2011 Australian Open.

The strained psoas muscle Venus Williams suffered in her second-round match of the Australian Open 2011 didn’t prevent her from beating Sandra Zahlavova, but one game into her third-round match against Andrea Petkovic, the tournament’s fourth-ranked player bowed out, handing No. 30 Petkovic a 1-0 victory. According to commentators in the booth, it’s the first time Williams has ever retired from a Grand Slam event.

Williams was injured while stretching for a shot during Wednesday’s match; although it wasn’t apparent right away what had gone wrong, her immediate bellow and hobble seemed to indicate a serious injury. After receiving medical attention from trainers, she returned to finish out the match and claim her victory to advance to the third round, but does not appear to have recovered sufficiently in the meantime to withstand the grueling conditions of major-tournament play.

In Williams’ place, Petkovic will play No. 14 Maria Sharapova in Round 4.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for more Day 5 results and highlights from the 2011 Australian Open.

Day 5 of the Australian Open 2011 gets underway in just a few short hours. If you’re planning on staying up all night with us to get your Down Under tennis fix, here’s a handy Australian Open TV schedule, adjusted to EST. Where to watch what tonight:

3:00 - 7:00 p.m.: ESPN2 will be running recap coverage of matches viewers may have missed in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

7:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Live coverage of third-round singles play and first- and second-round doubles matches on the Tennis Channel

11:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.: Live coverage of third-round singles play and first- and second-round doubles matches on ESPN2

You can find the full Australian Open draw sheet and schedule on the tournament’s official website. (Remember when checking the schedule that it if it’s Thursday evening on the East Coast, it’s already Friday in Australia.)

The scheduled Day 5 matches for Rod Laver Arena, in chronological order:

• No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki vs. No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova

• No. 11 Justine Henin vs. No. 23 Svetlana Kuznetsova

• No. 2 Roger Federer vs. Xavier Malisse

• No. 12 Gael Monfils vs. No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka

• No. 4 Venus Williams vs. No. 30 Andrea Petkovic

In Hisense Arena:

• No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 29 Viktor Troicki

• No. 8 Andy Roddick vs. Robin Haase

• No. 14 Maria Sharapova vs. Julia Goerges

• No. 9 Fernando Verdasco vs. Kei Nishikori

In Margaret Court Arena:

• No. 6 Francesca Schiavone vs. Monica Niculescu

• No. 9 Li Na vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova

• No. 6 Tomas Berdych vs. No. 28 Richard Gasquet

And elsewhere:

• No. 8 Victoria Azarenka vs. Chanelle Scheepers (Show Court 2)

• The Brothers Bryan vs. Chuang/Norman (Show Court 2)

Stay tuned to this StoryStream as Day 5 Australian Open results come rolling in; for more coverage, browse our SB Nation Tennis hub.