Torn Muscle Makes Mauresmo Pull Out

There are four important tournaments in tennis, the Grand Slams, and fourth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France had reached the final eight in the first one of the year, the Australian Open. Yet the back pain she felt in practice Tuesday morning was severe enough to cause her to withdraw from her scheduled quarterfinal against Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia without playing a point.

Mauresmo, who suffered the torn muscle in her fourth-round victory, broke down in tears in the interview room when she announced her decision. And it had been clear she was under duress when she tried to practice that morning. Tournament director Paul McNamee gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she left the court.

“When I hit some shots, I can feel really strong pain,” Mauresmo said. “The other thing is it could get worse if I play. So the best thing to do is to rest.... [It] was probably a good opportunity for me here in Australia since I always play well here.”

Zuluaga would have preferred to reach the semifinals the old-fashioned way, by earning it on the court. She is the first Colombian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal and will face No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium.

“It’s motivation,” said Zuluaga. “I feel real happy. I just want to keep going and going and going and doing good things for my country. We are not in a good way at home, so all of the things are really good for us.... We [are] forgetting all the bad things we have, like almost every day.”

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U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe will announce his team today for the upcoming first-round tie against Austria. The matches will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., Feb. 6-8.

Andy Roddick, ranked No. 1 in the world in singles, and twins Bob and Mike Bryan of Camarillo, the No. 1 doubles team, are the easy choices.

Speculation is that Robby Ginepri, who lost to Sebastien Grosjean of France in the fourth round here, could be the second singles player, having moved slightly ahead of Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish and James Blake. It is conceivable that, say, Dent or Fish could round out the squad.

Those named to the Austrian team today were Jurgen Melzer, Stefan Koubek, Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya. Melzer (No. 78) and Koubek (No. 92) are the only members of the team ranked among the top 100 in the ATP’s Entry System.