Russia facing Hopman injury crisis

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PERTH, Australia -- Top seeds Russia may be forced to withdraw from the Hopman Cup following an ankle injury to Teimuraz Gabashvili, sustained in the Qatar Challenger series.

Organisers said they were searching for a replacement for Gabashvili with Russia's first match against the United States scheduled for Tuesday.

Gabashvili damaged tendons in his ankle after reaching the quarterfinals in Qatar and is expected to be out for two months.

The injury is the second major setback for the Perth event with world number 12 and defending Australian Open champion Marat Safin originally meant to be competing.

But Safin, who was expected to partner Svetlana Kuznetsova, withdrew just before Christmas, citing an ongoing injury to his right knee.

Tournament director Paul McNamee said the search was on for another Russian player but there were none currently in Australia.

"We now go direct to the black book of tennis players," said McNamee.

A spokeswoman said Kuznetsova was disappointed when told of Gabashvili's withdrawal after she arrived in Perth on Friday night - and she too was making calls to Moscow to try and find a replacement.

"He is a very good friend of mine. We wanted to play together so much, I think its very sad what happened to him," said Kuznetsova.

The Netherlands beat China to qualify for the main draw of the eight-team event on Friday but organisers said the Chinese would now be substituted for Russia should they be unable to find a replacement.