SYDNEY, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- World No. 2 Rafael Nadal withdrew because of injury from a match in the Medibank International tennis tournament in Sydney, ahead of the Australian Open.
Nadal, from Spain, was down 6-5 in the first set of a match with Australian Chris Guccione when he said he could not continue because of an upper leg injury.
An entry on Nadal's Web site stated Nadal said the pain had started while Nadal was traveling to the tournament from India. He was next headed to Melbourne, the site of next week's Australian Open, to rest up for the first grand slam of the year. That tournament begins Monday.
In play completed Tuesday in Sydney, American James Blake, the tournament defending champion, needed just 46 minutes in topping American Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-4. Blake goes to the tournament second round against Australian Nathan Healey, who raced past Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-3, 7-5.
Guccione moved into a second-round match with Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who beat Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Also Tuesday, world No. 3 Russian Nikolay Davydenko rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over American Vince Spadea. Paul-Henri Mathieu beat Arnaud Clement 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 and sixth-seeded Richard Gasquet defeated Julien Benneteau 6-1, 6-4 in matches between French players.
Other players advancing to the second round were Spaniard Carlos Moya and Czech Ivo Minar,
The $436,000 tournament continues through Sunday, when the winner will take home $57,750.
