Williams withdraws from Brisbane

 

Originally published on: 04/01/12 11:18

Serena Williams has been forced to withdraw from her first tournament of the year after injuring her left ankle at the Brisbane International.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion twisted her ankle and crashed heavily to the court when leading 6-2 5-3 against Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski towards the end of their second round encounter.

Though she held on to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, she had remained down near the baseline for several minutes and then had the ankle re-taped before wincing through several more points to secure a 6-2 6-4 victory.

“I’m disappointed to have to pull out of the Brisbane International,” said Williams in a statement via the WTA.

“I have been to the 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.”

The 30-year-old American, who has won the first Grand Slam of the year on five occasions, is still hopeful of being fit in time for a tilt at her sixth triumph in Melbourne.

“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.”

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