Safina backs out of Dubai with ongoing injury woes
Dinara Safina
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Dinara Safina’s injury nightmare continues as she is forced to pull out of next week’s Dubai Tennis Championship.
The former world No.1, who broke down at last year’s season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha before revealing that she had been suffering with a chronic back problem for months.
Forced to withdraw from her scheduled opening event of 2010 in Brisbane, Safina lost to compatriot and eventualy champion Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals in Sydney.
The injury looked set to threaten her spot at the Australian Open altogether, but the 23-year-old reached the fourth round before retiring in the first set against compatriot Maria Kirilenko.
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to play the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships this year because of the back injury that’s been bothering me since the end of last season,” Safina told her official website, adding that “it’s one of my favorite events.”
Her listed schedule resumes with the BNP Paribas Open next month, so hopefully she will be fit in time for the Indian Wells tournament.
Dubai organisers expect the rest of the world top 10 to play, including Australian Open champ Serena Williams and defending champion Venus.
World No.1 Serena withdrw from this week’s Paris Indoor Open with a leg injury, leaving Dementieva as the highest-ranked player.
