Capriati crashes out of Sydney International

Jennifer Capriati's build-up to the defence of her Australian Open suffered a major blow today when she was knocked out of the Sydney International by Alexandra Stevenson and injured her hip.

The American failed to show any of the form that saw her win last year's Australian and French Open titles as she crashed to a 7-6 3-6 6-4 defeat.

The world No2 also aggravated a hip injury during the second set and needed treatment in the third, but said she did not expect it to trouble her at the Australian Open starting on Monday.

"I was still able to move around the court well without having any pain," Capriati said. "I think it should be okay because I'll really take care of it."

Capriati's loss meant she will go into next week's Australian Open, where she is top seed after the withdrawal of world number one Lindsay Davenport, with only one competitive match under her belt this year.

She was well below her best against Stevenson, who made the Wimbledon semi-finals as a qualifier in 1999 but has since slipped down the rankings to 61. Capriati committed a string of unforced errors in the hot and windy conditions.

"I didn't play aggressively enough," Capriati said. "I let her dictate around the court and I didn't really play my game...but I am not going to let it get my confidence down."

Stevenson took the first set in a tiebreaker but Capriati squared the match at one set all when she won the second, only to lose her way again in the third.

Capriati saved a match point in the ninth game after losing two successive service games, only to blow a 40-0 lead in the 10th game and hand the match to Stevenson, who says she is finally ready to make her mark on the game after two years in the wilderness.

"I feel confident that I can play anyone and beat anyone," the 20-year-old said. "The competition is really tough nowadays and you have to work really hard but I think the way I am playing now I can give anyone a run for their money."

Capriati was the only seeded woman who failed to reach the quarter-finals in Sydney, a tournament she won in 1993, although Kim Clijsters had a scare in her second-round match with Italian Silvia Farina Elia.

Third-seed Clijsters lost the first set in a tiebreak and was down 2-0 in the second before clawing her way back to win 6-7 6-4 6-1.

Clijsters will play her close friend Justine Henin in the quarter-finals after the Wimbledon finalist thrashed Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez 6-0 6-3. Clijsters made a whopping 60 unforced errors as she failed to come to grips with the swirling winds, but said it was a match she needed to have.

"It is not the way you want to play. You like to play when the conditions are good and you can play your own tennis and today was hard, but that's what tennis is all about," she said.

Former US Open champion Serena Williams became the first player to reach the semi-finals when she beat 2000 Sydney winner Amelie Mauresmo 6-4 7-6.

Mauresmo twice needed treatment to her neck but soldiered on and almost forced the match into a deciding third set.

The only two seeds to reach the quarter-finals in the depleted men's draw were Switzerland's Roger Federer and American teenager Andy Roddick.

Second-seed Federer brushed aside Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-2 6-4, while third-seed Roddick blasted past Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 6-0 6-4.

Roddick looked in ominous form ahead of the Australian Open, racing through the first set in just 15 minutes and sending down seven aces, including one thunderbolt timed at 209 kph.

"I want to focus on this tournament...but obviously this week is preparation for next week," said Roddick, who climbed from 160 to 16 in the rankings last year.

"I thought today was a good stepping stone for me. I started returning well and I felt like I was moving decently out there to go along with my serve."