Nishikori, Muguruza likely to play Australian Open despite injuries

Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from a scheduled exhibition in Sydney with a hip injury, but is likely to play the Australian Open.

The 26-year-old from Japan saw the trainer for the hip injury during the Brisbane final, but completed the match and indicated that the withdrawal was precautionary.

"I hurt it during the match yesterday, in the final,” said Nishikori, who played four matches in Brisbane. “It's not too bad, but obviously I needed some rest. It was a really tough tournament … I used a lot of energy on the court."

Garbine Muguruza, who played two three-setters in her first two rounds in Brisbane—each match was nearly three hours—retired from her semifinal match against Alize Cornet with a right thigh injury after defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova.

She indicated that she would still play in the Australian Open despite the setback.

"It will not stop me," she told reporters in Brisbane. "I felt a little exhausted from my two long matches, and I was far from 100 percent.

Belinda Bencic withdrew from this week's event in Sydney with a broken toenail, which she suffered at the Hopman Cup.

The 19-year-old is also likely to shake off the injury in time to play the Australian Open.