Davydenko out of Australian Open

World number five Nikolay Davydenko will miss this month's Australian Open because of a heel injury.

The Russian pulled out of his match against Lukas Dlouhy at the warm-up event in Chennai, India, on Wednesday after the problem flared up.

"It's obviously serious since I'll even miss the Australian Open," he said.

Davydenko reached the Masters Cup final in November, beating Andy Murray in the semis, and would have been among the favourites in Melbourne.

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"Andy Murray is breathing a sigh of relief at present as Nikolay Davydenko generally gets the better of the Scot"
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"I'm having acute pain in my left heel that flared up last week," the Russian added.

"I've had painkillers even today, and the doctors here in Chennai have tried some therapy for a few days, but I now need to fix this before playing any more tournaments.

"I need to check my heel and that's why I'm going home, to see what's happening and what's wrong.

"The problem started last year, but I thought I could still continue playing. It was (painful) even when I played the Shanghai Masters in November."

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