Melbourne, Jan 21: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova benefited from the second injury retirement in quick succession in the women's draw when Maria Kirilenko pulled out of their Australian Open third round match on Saturday.
The Czech second seed was leading 6-0, 1-0 when Kirilenko, who hurt her thigh towards the end of the first set and needed medical treatment, decided not to continue.
It was the second withdrawal in a matter of hours in the women's third round after Anabel Medina Garrigues withdrew in tears late on Friday after painfully rolling her ankle while playing China's Li Na.
Kvitova, who will now play either Serbian Ana Ivanovic or Vania King of the US in the fourth round, had been in scintillating form until Kirilenko's retirement.
After breaking Kirilenko's serve in a 10-minute opening game, the Czech world number two raced through the remainder of the set with a succession of booming serves and punishing ground strokes.
Kvitova landed 71 percent of her first serves and won 90 percent of those points, conceding only two points on her serve in the truncated match.
She also blasted 23 winners past the hapless Kirilenko, who was often left stranded on the baseline.
The Russian left the court for a medical time-out when she went down 5-0, but after losing the next two games she walked to the net to concede the match.
Kvitova is one of four players who could be world number one at the end of the tournament, along with Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and the current incumbent, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
