Garbine Muguruza's Australian Open preparations have been thrown into chaos after being forced to withdraw from her Sydney International quarter-final due to a right thigh injury.
Her exit means Daria Gavrilova advances straight to the semi-finals by walkover after the Australian defeated compatriot Samantha Stosur in straight sets on Wednesday night.
Muguruza pulled the plug just hours after admitting she was unhappy with her "weird" fitness following her second-round win over Kiki Bertens on Wednesday.
A week after retiring from the Brisbane International with cramps, the reigning Wimbledon champion was leading 2-1 in the first set when she headed to the changeroom for what she later revealed was an adductor issue that had been plaguing her since the start of the tournament.
"Since the start (of the match) I felt a little bit my adductor, and I already felt it in Brisbane, so I thought I was going to be much better but in fact came back," she said after the match.
"I asked for a medical timeout to try and make it better. It worked."
The world No.3 showed little ill-effects upon her return to centre court, claiming six of the next eight games to take a commanding lead against the 32nd-ranked Dutchwoman.
Bertens responded with a service break of her own midway through the second and saved a break point in the next game, but eventually fell 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
Muguruza was the last remaining female seed on the fourth day of play following the second-round exit of Venus Williams on Tuesday.
And while she insisted being satisfied with her game, she was less confident in her body.
"I do feel it's good. I felt it already in Brisbane in the training and the training matches that I have been doing, too. So I'm not surprised. I'm happy the way I felt," the Spaniard said.
"(But) not about my fitness state because I feel it's a little bit, surprisingly, I don't know, weird. But my tennis is good."
Earlier on Wednesday, Polish star Agnieszka Radwanksa advanced to her fifth Sydney quarter-final with a straight-sets dismissal of American qualifier Catherine Bellis.
A finalist last year and champion in 2013, Radwanska resisted a strong first-set challenge from Bellis before running away with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 win on Wednesday.
The former world No.2 will play Camila Giorgi for a spot in the final four after the Italian qualifier ousted two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.
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