Davydenko joins Russian casualty list

SYDNEY, Jan 10 (Reuters) World number three Nikolay Davydenko joined the mounting Russian casualty list at the Sydney International today when he retired from his second round match with Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Davydenko, 25, lost the first set 6-4 when he suddenly quit, with officials unable to immediately confirm the nature of his ailment.

Davydenko became the third Russian to pull out of the last major event before the Australian Open in 24 hours, joining Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova on the sidelines.

Kuznetsova withdrew midway through her match against Katarina Srebotnik yesterday after complaining of breathing problems while Petrova retired in the second set of her clash with Ana Ivanovic with a stomach complaint.

Another Russian, Dmitry Tursonov, pulled out before his first match when he hurt his wrist in the warm-up. He was replaced by lucky loser Evgeny Korolev who is the only Russian survivor from the nine who began the event.

REUTERS AY VC1251