Lindsay Davenport's Australian Open preparations suffered a major scare when a shoulder injury forced her to withdraw from a semi-final with Justine Henin-Hardenne at the Sydney International on Friday.

Davenport strained a muscle in her right shoulder during her quarter-final win over Elena Dementieva on Thursday before aggravating the problem by playing doubles.

The American told a news conference it was too painful for her to play against world number one Henin-Hardenne but she was hopeful of recovering in time for the Australian Open in Melbourne which starts on Monday.

"There's a chance it will heal completely if I give it three or four days' rest," she said.

"I've dealt with much worse injuries and things in the past so I'm pretty optimistic that it will heal."

Davenport is the only player left in the women's draw to have already won the Australian Open, after the withdrawal of last year's winner Serena Williams and former champions Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Mary Pierce.

The American, ranked fifth in the world, said she gave herself a real chance of winning this year as long as she was fit.

INJURY PROBLEMS

Davenport has been plagued by injury problems in recent years and underwent a foot operation in October. But she has been in good form since returning this year.

A former world number one, Davenport won each of her singles matches to help the United States retain the Hopman Cup in Perth last week and continued her winning streak in Sydney.

The 27-year-old Californian said her latest injury was probably caused by her sudden burst of matches after a long layoff and her withdrawal was mainly a precaution for the Australian Open.

Davenport was drawn to play Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie in the first round but said she would ask organisers if she could start on Tuesday instead of Monday.

"At this point of my career and all the injuries I've had, I just feel it's best right now to get myself better," she said.

"I've still got some recovering to do but if my form is any indication, I still feel really confident about my chances.

"If I'm able to serve the way I have the last few weeks, I still feel very good about my chances."

Davenport's withdrawal gave Henin-Hardenne a free ride into Saturday's final against either Amelie Mauresmo or Francesca Schiavone.