Injured Sharapova quits Brisbane International

Brisbane - Tennis World No.2 player Maria Sharapova Tuesday pulled out of the Brisbane International with a collarbone injury, depriving her of valuable competition time ahead of the Australian Open.

Sharapova, who was due to play Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round, said the inflammation had left her unable to serve properly.

“I started practising once I got here but couldn’t serve much… actually at all until yesterday (Monday),” Sharapova said on the tournament website.

“Just a couple days of serving is not really enough to go out tomorrow and compete at a high level, which is unfortunate. I tried to give myself a chance, like I said, I just ran out of time a little bit.”

Sharapova’s place in the $437,000 tournament, with a first-round bye, has been handed to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.