Azarenka Withdraws After Pedicure Injury The most anticipated match of the young 2013 season was called off on Friday, when top-ranked Victoria Azarenka pulled out of her Brisbane International semifinal against third-ranked Serena Williams, citing an infection in her right big toe. It would have been a rematch of the dramatic United States Open final between the two, which Williams won, 7-5, in the third set after Azarenka had served for the championship. Williams got a walkover into the final, where she will face 36th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. Azarenka said that she had needed a minor surgical procedure the day before to remove part of her toenail that had been jamming into her skin since a pedicure 10 days earlier. "It just got infected from a bad pedicure experience," Azarenka said. I had somebody who gave me an infection. Actually, the doctor said it happens a lot - it never happened to me. It's something that I definitely am gonna prevent for the next time. "I tried everything," Azarenka said. We tried medication, with taping, and I was playing through the pain for quite a while. And, you know, it's just something that I had to do to make sure that I can be fully recovered and ready for Australian Open, it's a kind of compromise I had to take. Azarenka had dropped only one game in her quarterfinal match, cruising, 6-1, 6-0, past Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan. Williams herself was forced out of a December exhibition against Azarenka in Thailand after undergoing a minor big toe procedure. Williams has also studied to give pedicures, working to get certified as a nail technician in 2010 in between winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon. "I had that toe problem just a couple of weeks ago, and it's painful," Williams said of Azarenka's ailment. Williams has lost only once to Azarenka in 12 previous meetings, when she chose to play through a visible injury in the 2009 Miami final. Azarenka's withdrawal adds to a list of one-off withdrawals and injury retirements that outpaces any other player on the W.T.A. Tour: all the more striking now that Azarenka has ascended to the No. 1 ranking. Thursday's walkover was Azarenka's 18th withdrawal or retirement since the beginning of the 2010 season. The previous 17 were rarely because of the same injury more than once, and were rarely cause to keep Azarenka out of play for more than that week. Ailments Azarenka cited in 2012 included chronic fatigue in Tokyo, her lower back before a Fed Cup tie against a Williams-led Fed Cup team in February, and a knee injury in Montreal that Azarenka cited when pulling out mid-match after play had been postponed by a rain delay. Maria Sharapova took particular exception to Azarenka's withdrawal from the 2012 Italian Open in Rome. Azarenka pulled out shortly after a routine victory, citing a shoulder injury, and then criticized the W.T.A. Tour's policy of ranking penalties for missing tournaments. She's probably been injured more than any other player and yet is able to be No. 1 in the world," Sharapova said when asked if she agreed with Azarenka's criticism of the tour. Last year she, I think, had more retirements than anyone but was still able to play a full schedule. A few days after retiring from an event she was practicing at the next tournament. It's pretty tough to know what her state is and how she's feeling. Azarenka beat Sharapova in three sets in the semifinals of the United States Open in September, but Sharapova won their final contest of 2012, beating an occasionally limping Azarenka in the semifinals of the WTA Championships in Istanbul. "Everybody is hurting at this time," Sharapova said when asked if fitness had made the difference in the match. Some show it more than others.