Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Brisbane International due to a left ankle injury - but still hopes to play in the Australian Open.
American star advised to pull out with sprained left ankle
Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Brisbane International due to a left ankle injury - but still hopes to play in the Australian Open.
The former world number one won her second round match against Bojana Jovanowski 6-2 6-4 but rolled her ankle and has been advised not to play on by medical staff.
"I'm disappointed to have to pull out of the Brisbane International," Williams said. "I have been to hospital and it has been confirmed that I have a left ankle sprain that I probably shouldn't play on.
"I'm going to take a couple of days off - not too many - and see how I feel. I'm still hopeful of playing the Australian Open.
"It was such an unexpected end to the tournament; I didn't expect to be getting an MRI today. I've had a great time here in Brisbane - the tournament is great, the fans are fantastic and hopefully I'll see them again next year."
Bounce back
Australian Samantha Stosur, who beat Williams in the US Open final last year to claim her maiden grand slam title, lost 6-4 6-2 to Czech Iveta Benesova in the second round.
It is the second successive year the world No 6 has been the top seed at her hometown event and she also bowed out at the same stage last year, when she was beaten by compatriot Jarmila Gajdosova.
"Hopefully it was just a bad day and I will bounce back next week and the week after," Stosur said.
"Of course it's disappointing. I never wanted to go out in this round again, but I don't want to dwell on it."
The other second round matches saw in-form Kaia Kanepi hammer seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0 6-3 while sixth seed Jelena Jankovic beat Russian Nina Bratchikova 6-3 6-2.
