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Slovak site Aktualne posted a quote from Kristina Kucova after her defeat by Vera Zvonareva, shedding light on the Russian's current physical situation;
"I knew that Vera had undergone leg surgery before this tournament. I thought she might be injured, so I thought I had a chance, but in reality she is a top 10 player and she cleaned me off the court".
"I had no chance against it. I did not like all the baseline rallies and she kept pushing me back. When I wanted to attack, usually I missed. My left leg started to hurt at 2-3, but it no longer bothered me after that. Zvonareva is like six classes better than me, and she is fit".
She's in extreme doubt for Sydney and is also racing the clock to be fit for the Aust Open.
She aggravated her ankle injury in Hong Kong this week.
Vera: "There is an ache right now and I think I will need 72 hours for the inflammation to come down. It is going to be a tough challenge for me to compete in Sydney, I have doubts about that."
"I will try to recover for Melbourne, but the inflammation is still there because of the surgery."
She had surgery on the ankle in November.
Great shame.
She is one of the most "colourful" characters on the Tour imho.
By Andrew Mullen, Press Association Sport, Hong Kong
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Vera Zvonareva's preparations for the Australian Open suffered a blow today after the world number nine was forced to pull out of her singles match at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic with an ankle injury.
The 25-year-old Russian, who reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, was set to face world number seven Victoria Azarenka.
But, having undergone surgery in November after withdrawing from the season-ending Tour Championship, she was forced out as the ankle swelled up after Wednesday's win over Japanese teenager Ayumi Morita.
Zvonareva is hopeful of competing in tomorrow's doubles with compatriot Yevgeny Kafelnikov against Azarenka and Stefan Edberg.
"It's frustrating as I am looking for match practice, but hopefully it'll settle down so I can take my place in the doubles tomorrow," said Zvonareva.
Last year Zvonareva began the season with a phenomenal 20-3 record as she claimed titles at Pattaya City and Indian Wells after reaching a first grand slam semi-final at the Australian Open.
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