Clijsters lies in wait for Baltacha

Elena Baltacha is a possible second-round opponent for defending champions Kim Clijsters in the women’s singles at the Australian Open.

The Scot takes on Stephanie Foretz Gacon and could face Clijsters if she wins and the Belgian beats a qualifier in the first round.

Britain’s Heather Watson takes on third seed Victoria Azarenka while Anne Keothavong meets Mona Barthel.

And Clijsters and last-year’s losing finalist Li Na could meet in the fourth round after being drawn in the same quarter of the draw last night.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki will play Australian Anastasia Rodionova in her first-round match and is in the same half as Clijsters and Li, last year’s French Open champion.

On the other half of the draw, five-times champion Serena Williams is in the same section as No 3 Vera Zvonereva and former Grand Slam champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova.

Overall, however, the women’s draw resembles the march of the walking wounded, with more than a quarter of the top 25 ruled out or carrying injuries into the year’s first grand slam.

Wozniacki strained her left wrist in her quarter-final defeat to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska at the Sydney International on Wednesday and the Dane is racing against time to prove her fitness before the tournament starts on Monday.

Injuries have already robbed the tournament of two major draws in seven-times grand slam champion Venus Williams (illness) and German world No 10 Andrea Petkovic (back).

Several other big names, including Clijsters and Serena Williams, go into the tournament with injury concerns.

Clijsters pulled out of the warm-up Brisbane International with a hip muscle injury, while five-time winner Williams twisted an ankle at the same tournament.

Williams, who unveiled the electric blue outfit she will wear on court in Melbourne, added of the injury: “It’s not 100 per cent but it’s better than it was last week.”

Sharapova had to pull out of Brisbane with an ankle injury, while 20th-ranked Italian Flavia Pennetta retired hurt with a back injury in the final of the Auckland Classic against China’s Zheng Jie on Sunday.

The raft of injuries may be a headache for organisers, but may have left the field wide open for a dark horse, according to Australian former Wimbledon champion and TV pundit Pat Cash.

“Tennis is a brutal sport. You can be fit as hell, doing gym work and running but, once you get on court and start playing matches, it’s tough,” he said.

Cash has pinpointed world No 2 and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova as a good bet.