Madison Keys retired from her second-round match at the Sydney International against Tsvetana Pironkova with an injured right shoulder. The 19-year-old American was trailing 1-4 in the second set after winning the first set, 6-4.
Keys says she has not hurt her shoulder before, but thinks that she will fine for the Australian Open. "Just hit a serve weird and just kind of impinged my shoulder a little bit," she said. "Tried to play through it a couple more games; started getting worse. Just didn't want to push it too hard and end up getting worse… I didn't want to end up pulling something or tearing something, and doing something worse and having to pull out of the Aussie Open."
Keys is currently ranked No. 33, meaning she will not be seeded at the Australian Open unless someone ranked higher than her withdraws.
She added that her new coach, Lindsay Davenport, was about to board a plane to Australia and saw that Keys had pulled out. "I sent an immediate email saying, 'Don't freak out. It's fine,'" Keys said. "She understands. She played. She gets it, said, 'Good call.' Let's get it better, and we'll do whatever we can to get ready."