BRISBANE: Defending champion Maria Sharapova and top-seeded Simona Halep withdrew from the Australian Open warmup tournament in Brisbane within an hour of each other on Tuesday, without playing a match. Sharapova was scheduled to play fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday but withdrew hours before the first-round match rather than risk further damage to a sore left forearm ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. The five-time major winner said she’d hurt her forearm in practice a couple of days earlier and had to withdraw as a precaution. Her place in the draw was taken by Margarita …read more
Source: The Himalayan Times
