TENNIS in DEPTH.

The back injury that cost Dinara Safina the world No. 1 ranking at last year’s WTA championships has plunged the 23-year-old’s career into serious jeopardy.

Russian Safina last night flew from Melbourne to see her German back specialist in a desperate attempt to find a cure for the injury.

Last year’s Australian Open finalist was clearly in agony when forced to retire from her clash against compatriot Maria Kirilenko on Sunday.

Safina had been plagued by the injury since the middle of last year and when she retired from the WTA Championships in Doha against Serbian Jelena Jankovic it saw American Serena Williams elevated to the No. 1 ranking.

Cortisone shots and several months of intense rehabilitation had seen her passed fit to play, but as she said after her withdrawal against Kirilenko, “I just cannot move”.

She describes the problem as a “bone edema” in her lower back.

The WTA could shed no more light on the exact nature of her injury yesterday, confirming only that Safina had flown out to Europe to seek more help.

“The plan for me is to see the doctor as soon as possible to see exactly what happened,” she said.

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