Melbourne - The Australian Open has lost injured world number five Nikolay Davydenko as the Russian withdrew due to a nagging heel injury.
The opening Grand Slam of the season suffered its first high- profile defection through the pullout. Also on the possible danger list are Maria Sharapova and world number two Serena Williams.
Neither have played for months - Sharapova has missed six months - but both insist they will be ready for the major, which begins in 11 days.
Wellington - Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer will face a shoe-waving protest over her country's invasion of Gaza at the ASB Classic tournament in Auckland on Thursday.
Local activist John Minto, who led a campaign against New Zealand's sporting contacts with apartheid South Africa in the 1970s, said she should withdraw from the tournament to bring attention to the plight of Palestinians.
"She is a high profile figure in Israel, and for her to make a stand would have a significant effect," he told the New Zealand Herald.
Perth, Australia - James Blake converted on only one of his 19 break points, but compensated with 17 aces to pull the US level 1-1 with Germany at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday.
The number ten managed the fightback to defeat Nicolas Kiefer 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-9), 6-4. In the women's rubber, teenaged Sabine Lisicki remained undefeated at the eight-nation event with her 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Meghann Shaughnessy.
Auckland - Fitness issues from 2008 came back to haunt local hope Marina Erakovic as the New Zealander fell 6-2, 6-3 to top seed Elena Dementieva in the second round on Wednesday at the ASB Classic.
Erakovic, the number 60 who lost her last seven matches of 2008, needed treatment for abdominal and neck strains with a second-set injury timeout.
Olympic champion Dementieva bucked the upset trend after five of the eight seeds went out in the second round. The Russian faces a Thursday quarter-final with Israeli Shahar Peer.
Chennai: Local fellow Prakash Amirtraj lost his first-round match to German fifth-seeded player Rainer Schuettler 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, even as Rohan Bopanna made his passage to the main draw after winning his final qualifying match in the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open here.
Amritraj had no answers to the tactical play of the German player. From the last seven years, Amritraj has been favoured with a wild card entry for the tournament. From the last few months, the Davis Cupper is being criticized for his continued poor show at the lone ATP event in India.
Auckland - Olympic champion Elena Dementieva had to fight to stop a potential spoiler, erasing an early 5-1 lead in favour of Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan Chan to post a 7-5, 6-3 victory on Tuesday at the ASB Classic.
Dementieva called her great escape "a tough match."
"She was on fire at the beginning and put a lot of pressure on me. It took me a while to get into the match," she said of her opponent.
The Russian world number four was joined as a straight-sets winner by second seed Caroline Wozniacki as the Dane crushed Italian qualifier Alberta Brianti 6-1, 6-0.
Melbourne - The Australian Open has lost injured world number five Nikolay Davydenko as the Russian withdrew due to a nagging heel injury.
Wellington - Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer will face a shoe-waving protest over her country's invasion of Gaza at the ASB Classic tournament in Auckland on Thursday.
Perth, Australia - James Blake converted on only one of his 19 break points, but compensated with 17 aces to pull the US level 1-1 with Germany at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday.
Auckland - Fitness issues from 2008 came back to haunt local hope Marina Erakovic as the New Zealander fell 6-2, 6-3 to top seed Elena Dementieva in the second round on Wednesday at the ASB Classic.
Chennai: Local fellow Prakash Amirtraj lost his first-round match to German fifth-seeded player Rainer Schuettler 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, even as Rohan Bopanna made his passage to the main draw after winning his final qualifying match in the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open here. 
