Tennis

The Latest: Nadal confirms he has muscle injury in leg

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:08 a.m. ET

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The Latest on Wednesday at the Australian Open (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

Rafael Nadal says he had an MRI conducted on Wednesday morning and it confirmed he has a muscle injury in his upper right leg.

The top-ranked Nadal retired from his quarterfinal match against Marin Cilic on Tuesday night while trailing 0-2 in the fifth set. It was only the second time in his career he's retired during a Grand Slam match.

He says he expects the injury to heal in three weeks and he'll return to the tour in Acapulco, Mexico, at the end of February.

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1:15 p.m.

False alarm: Calls over the stadium speakers for the crowd to evacuate caused a delay to the start the Australian Open men's quarterfinal match between Hyeon Chung and Tennys Sandgren on Rod Laver Arena.

Some of the fans headed toward the exits, but the players remained behind the baselines as chair umpire James Keothavong contacted stadium staff to work out if it was a false alarm.

After a few minutes, Keothavong announced: "Ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for your patience. False alarm."

The match got underway with Sandgren holding serve in the first game.

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12:30 p.m.

Angelique Kerber had a 6-1 win-loss record against Madison Keys coming into their quarterfinal match at Melbourne Park, but she didn't expect an easy match.

She said afterward, "It's always tough to play against Madison. She's hitting the ball so hard, the serve is also really fast, so I was just trying from the beginning, like I played the whole week, just going out there, playing my game and enjoying it."

Kerber said after winning the first set handily, she tried not to lose her focus.

"You know that she's coming back, you know Madison. She's fighting until the last point."

Keys got her only break of the match at 1-3 in the second set, but Kerber was able to break back in the next game and then again to close out the match.

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12:10 p.m.

Angelique Kerber is through to the Australian Open semifinals after a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win over Madison Keys.

For Kerber, who kicked off her career-best season with her run to the title here two years ago, it was her first quarterfinal at a major since her victory in the 2016 U.S. Open.

The momentum was all one-way until Keys broke for the first time in the fifth game of the second set, but Kerber recovered quickly to finish off in 51 minutes.

Kerber has been the only major winner still in the women's draw since her third-round win over Maria Sharapova.

Keys reached the U.S. Open final last September but lost in straight sets to Sloane Stephens.

Kerber's semifinal opponent will be decided later Wednesday in a quarterfinal match between top-ranked Simona Halep and No. 6 Karolina Pliskova.

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