Hopman injury blow hurts Clijsters

Perth - Kim Clijsters' Australian Open preparations suffered a setback as she was forced to quit her Hopman Cup tennis clash with Australia's Alicia Molik because of an ankle injury.

The Belgian world number two was leading 3-6 7-6 2-3 when she hobbled off court.

Lleyton Hewitt, Clijsters' fiance, then beat Xavier Malisse to earn a decisive lead for the Australians in Group B play at the mixed teams event.

Clijsters and Hewitt had been due to compete for the first time in their careers in the mixed doubles, but that was declared a walkover following Clijsters' injury, giving Australia a 3-0 win.

Hewitt said Clijsters, who wasted four match points during the second set tiebreaker, was upset that she had been forced to retire.

"I went and saw her, and she was obviously pretty distressed at the time," said Hewitt.

"We weren't sure how bad it was, but it is obviously disappointing to happen a couple of weeks before a Grand Slam. Touch wood hopefully it is not as bad as it looked."

The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on January 19.

The United States face the Czech Republic later on Wednesday in Group A. -- CNN News

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