Pain-killing injection forces Arthurs out

MELBOURNE, Jan 19 (Reuters) A teary-eyed Wayne Arthurs endured an unhappy end to his Australian Open career when he was forced to quit his third-round match against Mardy Fish after suffering an adverse reaction to a pain-killing injection.

The 35-year-old, making his final appearance at the Open, wanted to make a memorable exit -- and hobbling out of court was not quite what he had in mind.

As soon as he started the warm up today, he struggled to move around on court and dragged his feet around.

''I had a pre-existing injury with my hip. It was getting sorer and sorer over the last three days,'' Arthurs told reporters.

''It got worse yesterday during the doubles.

''I'd gone in (today) to have a local anaesthetic in my hip...

went on the court. I had a reaction to the anaesthetic and had no coordination, no feelings in my right leg at all.

''Just completely gone on the right side. As you could see, I couldn't coordinate at all on the right side.'' The Australian limped around on court before he shook his head and quit while trailing 3-0 in the first set.

After shaking hands with Fish, the sobbing Arthurs slumped back into his chair and covered his face with a towel.

''My body just wouldn't let me run to the ball. I'd see the ball, and it just wouldn't go where I wanted it to go,'' he said.

''I really didn't want to walk off that court at that moment.

I knew there was nothing I could do.'' Cheered by his home fans, Arthurs eventually got back on his feet and acknowledged the crowd by waving to all corners of the stands.

''I couldn't really believe that this is the way that my last Aussie Open was going to finish,'' said the dejected Arthurs, whose best grand slam result is reaching the fourth round of all the slams barring the Australian Open.

''I looked up the crowd as I went out. The flags, Aussie stuff everywhere. It was an amazing atmosphere.'' Arthurs's exit leaves Lleyton Hewitt as the sole Australian remaining in the men's draw.

REUTERS PM RK1730