Former world number eight Alicia Molik [Images], forced to take a break from tennis due to a persistent virus that is affecting her balance, has no plans to retire in the near future, her manager said on Saturday.

Molik withdrew from the Zurich Open on Tuesday and said on Friday she is taking an extended break from tennis to try to rectify the vestibular neuronitis, an inflammation of the inner ear, that has affected her since March.

Australian media on Saturday was rife with rumours the 24-year-old was about to announce her retirement. Her management quashed the rumours.

"It's nowhere near any kind of retirement," Molik's manager Lisa Chaffey told Australian Associated Press. "She is more than likely just going to take a significant period of time off.

"If that has to be a 12-month sabbatical from the game then so be it.

"There's not set time period in mind, she's just dedicated to having as long off as needed because when she does come back she wants to be at the standard she was at."

Chaffey said Molik would miss January's Australian Open but is not prepared to guess how long she would be out of the game.

"She doesn't want to say she wants to be ready for Wimbledon or the US Open or anything like that which puts pressure on her," Chaffey said.

"She just wants to get it right."

Molik, the 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medallist and 2005 Australian Open quarter-finalist, was diagnosed with the virus after suffering dizziness and fatigue while at a tournament in Miami [Images] in March.

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