TOP SEED Garbine Muguruza withdrew from the Sydney International yesterday due to a thigh injury after she had booked her place in the quarter-finals.

The Spanish world No 3 had received treatment on the problem in the opening set of her clash with Kiki Bertens but rallied to win 6-3 7-6 (8/6).

But, with the Australian Open just around the corner, Muguruza withdrew from the tournament as a precaution.

Muguruza said before she pulled out: “Since the start I felt a little bit [of strain] my abductor.

“You always have to adapt … sometimes you don’t need to have a pain. You just want to do a certain style of game or some tactic.

“I figured out that, having a little bit more aggressive, shorter points, that might help me and might help me also for my game. So it’s like a winning situation.”

Her withdrawal means that home favourite Daria Gavrilova heads straight into the semi-finals after she came through against compatriot Sam Stosur.

Italy’s world No 100 Camila Giorgi shocked Petra Kvitova by defeating the Czech former Wimbledon champion 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 and Agnieszka Radwanska progressed following her 7-6 (7/4) 6-0 triumph over Californian CiCi Bellis.

At the Hobart International, British hopeful Heather Watson set up a quarter-final clash with Croatia’s Donna Vekic by winning 6-2 6-2 against wild card Jamiee Fourlis.

Also successful yesterday were Alison Riske and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.