Injured Stosur causes Indian Wells wipeout

INDIAN WELLS, California: The women's quarter-finals at Indian Wells ended with a whimper on Thursday as seventh seed Sam Stosur both pulled out with injuries.

Stosur, a former US Open champion, pulled out with a right calf injury, granting fourth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany a walkover.

"I think the situation is very strange for the tournament," Kerber said. "It's not great. I think everybody would like to play and win of course. Caroline now has the same situation, so I think we are both ready for Friday's match."

The other women's semi was set on Wednesday, with second-seeded Maria
Sharapova setting up a meeting with fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.

Sharapova won Indian Wells in 2006 and was runner-up to Azarenka last year. She's in the semi-finals for the sixth time.

Kirilenko, who upset third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round and fifth-seeded former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the quarters, reached the final four for the first time in 10 appearances here.

Azarenka and Stosur withdrew after trying to warm up for their matches. Now both are just hoping to be fit for the hard court tournament in Miami that starts next week. (AFP)