French Open champion Garbine Muguruza has 10 days to prove her fitness for the start of the Australian Open after injury forced her to retire from the Brisbane International.
The 23-year-old, trailing 4-1, called time on her semi-final clash with Alize Cornet due to a problem with her right thigh.
Muguruza appeared to be feeling the effects of her gruelling wins over Sam Stosur, Daria Kasatkina and Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the tournament.
"Was far from 100 per cent today. There's pain in my abductor, but I am also fatigued," she was reported as saying on BrisbaneTennis' Twitter.
Cornet, now a guaranteed seed for the first major of 2017 following the victory, will face Karolina Pliskova in the final.
The match was a step too far for Elina Svitolina, who beat world number one Angelique Kerber in the previous round, as Pliskova claimed a 6-2 6-4 success.
Alison Riske secured her place in the Shenzhen Open final for a second consecutive year with victory over Camila Giorgi.
The American, beaten last year by Agnieszka Radwanska, completed a 6-3 6-3 win to set up a final against Katerina Siniakova.
The world number 52 moved into her third career WTA showpiece with an impressive 1-6 6-4 6-4 triumph against Johanna Konta.
Ana Konjuh and Lauren Davis will go head-to-head in the ASB Classic final in Auckland.
After Jelena Ostapenko retired 4-1 down in the third set against Davis, Konjuh secured her place in a second career WTA final with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory over Julia Goerges.
Source: PA
