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. IANS