Serena Williams pulled out of the Madrid Open on Monday after aggravating a leg injury in a first-round match against Francesca Schiavone.
Second-seeded Williams retired after losing the first set 6-4 to the Italian, citing a problem with her right knee.
Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, seeded ninth, defeated former Wimbledon champion Marat Safin of Russia 6-4, 7-5.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Spain’s David Ferrer, seeded 12th, beat Guillermo Canas of Argentina 6-2, 6-2.
A downcast Williams, who had difficulty bending her right knee, said she had made too many commitments with her schedule this year and was paying the price.
“I was just really hindered. My movement was hindered as a result of an injury I’ve been struggling with for some time,” Williams said.
She declined to comment on the extent of the injury, but said it would not keep her out of the upcoming French Open.
“It’s not going to stop me playing in Paris,” Williams said. “I didn’t want to risk my chances to play Roland Garros. I don’t know how serious it is but I don’t want it to get worse.”
Third seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia took a little over an hour to defeat Lourdes Dominguez Lino — the last Spanish woman left in the Open — 6-3, 6-2.
Tsonga said he was pleased with his attacking game but acknowledged he needed to improve to climb the rankings.
“I played good offensive tennis with some aggressive shots,” he said, adding Safin had once been his boyhood idol.
“He played some great matches at Roland Garros and was like an idol of mine. It was special to play against him,” Tsonga said.
Safin, once the top-ranked player in the world, said after 11 years he was playing his farewell tour and would retire from professional tennis.
“I want to retire while still in decent ranking numbers,” Safin said. “I couldn’t do anything against Tsonga, I just can’t find my game and was left waiting for his mistakes.”
In other men’s first round matches Swiss 11th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, breezed past Italy’s Marco Crugnola 6-2, 6-0, while world No. 26 Mardy Fish of the US defeated Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
After struggling through two injury-hit seasons, two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo of France continued her recent good form, besting Ai Sugiyama of Japan in straight sets.
The 29-year-old 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion beat the Japanese player 6-2, 6-4.
Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia was taken to a tie-break in the first set by Gisela Dulko of Argentina before taking the second 6-1.
Swiss player Patty Schnyder, who defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-2, 6-4, said playing at altitude was not a problem for her.
“Although the court is really fast and the ball bounces high, you can adjust your play by compensating with how tautly you string your racket,” Schnyder, 29, said.
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