Sharapova withdraws from Brisbane tennis

BRISBANE, Australia—Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Brisbane International because of her continuing recovery from a left ankle injury first suffered at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo in September.

Sharapova told Brisbane tournament officials in a statement released Saturday that “unfortunately my ankle is not 100 percent and I won’t be able to make it this year.”

It would have been her first appearance at the Brisbane event which begins Jan. 1.

Sharapova is one of the acknowledged top draws in women’s tennis and a former world No. 1.

She said the injury, which also forced her to withdraw from the China Open and later the WTA Championships in Istanbul after two losses, should not affect her chances of competing at the Australian Open, which she won in 2008 and which begins Jan. 16 in Melbourne.