Nadal happy with his Doha show

 Rafael Nadal was happy with his overall preparations for the Australian Open despite suffering a surprise defeat in the semifinals of the Qatar Open on Friday.

Gael Monfils beat the top-seeded Spaniard 6-3, 6-4 to set up an all-French final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga following Roger Federer's withdrawal due to a back injury.

"I go to Australia very happy about what I did here," Nadal told a news conference. "I think I played a great tournament. I played more aggressively than usual, including today, even if I know that's maybe not the right thing to do. I needed to be a little bit more consistent today but I am doing the things I have to do to compete against the best players in the world."

Clijsters hopeful

Kim Clijsters has been cleared of major damage to her hip and expressed guarded optimism on Saturday about recovering in time for the defence of her Australian Open title.

Belgian Clijsters, who beat China’s Li Na to win at Melbourne Park last year, retired hurt during her semifinal against Daniela Hantuchova at the Brisbane International on Friday, complaining of tightness in her hip.

An MRI scan had diagnosed a muscle spasm on Clijsters’ tensor fascia lata, a muscle on the outside of the hip, a report on the Australian Open website said on Saturday.
“With this one I kind of have an okay feeling,” the report quoted the four-time Grand Slam champion as saying.