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Former world number three Ivan Ljubicic limped out of the Eastbourne International after injuring his ankle in a heavy fall.

Four days before Wimbledon begins the tall Croatian winced in agony as he was helped off court by a trainer, to applause from the Devonshire Park crowd, after being forced out of his quarter-final against fourth-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

Ljubicic, who has dropped to 30th in the world after being troubled by back and hamstring injuries last year, had won the first set 6-3 and was 2-4 down in the second.

Racing to the net to reach one of Santoro's trademark delicate shots, he skidded on the grass, fell and cried out in agony, clutching his left ankle.

Santoro, playing his last year on the ATP Tour at the age of 36, threw off his cap, dropped his racket and ran to the court-side freezer to fetch bags of ice which he applied to Ljubicic's ankle while officials summoned the trainer.

Tour officials said the Croatian, who has never gone beyond the third round at Wimbledon, would have an MRI scan later on Thursday.

"It is not a typical ankle twist but we are not 100 percent sure what it is. We will have to find out how long it will take after the evaluation," Ljubicic said via an ATP spokesman, adding that he was "very disappointed".

Ljubicic's retirement gave Santoro a place in the semi-finals of the new men's event.

He next plays Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic who, having knocked out top-seeded Russian Igor Andreev in the opening round, beat Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-7 6-4 7-5 in his quarter-final.

Second seed Dmitry Tursunov of Russia will meet Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Friday's second semi-final.

Tursunov, the world number 27, put out Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6 6-4 while eighth seed Garcia-Lopez saw off a late fightback to defeat Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 3-6 6-3.

WTA and ATP Eastboune: Watch full live coverage of Friday's semi-finals LIVE on British Eurosport or on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click the link beneath the picture to subscribe.

Reuters