OZ LOSES DAVYDENKO

World number five Nikolay Davydenko will miss the Australian Open later this month after aggravating a heel injury.

The 27-year-old Russian was scheduled to play his second round match in Chennai against Czech wildcard Lukas Dlouhy but instead told reporters at the Chennai Open, where he was top seed, that he would have to withdraw from the event.

Davydenko was runner-up to Serbian Novak Djokovic in the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai and finished 2008 in the top five for a fourth straight season.