DEFENDING champion Maria Sharapova and top-seeded Simona Halep withdrew from the Australian Open warmup tournament in Brisbane within an hour of each other and without playing a match.

    Sharapova was scheduled to play fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova yesterday 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 Gasparyan.

    Halep had a first-round bye and withdrew a day ahead of her scheduled opening match against Victoria Azarenka because of a problem with her left Achilles.

    “I wanted to play here. This injury is very difficult,’’ Halep said. “I thought I was ready, but I can’t do a full match.’’

    Halep said she hoped to play at the Sydney International next week. Sharapova is heading directly to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 18.

    Sharapova won the Brisbane and Rome titles in 2015 and lost the final of the Australian Open to Serena Williams, who added the French Open and Wimbledon titles and was two match victories from a season Grand Slam when she lost to Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals.

    Williams withdrew from her season-opening match at the Hopman Cup in Perth on Monday because of inflammation in her knee, but was hoping to be fit to play for the U.S. team against Australia Gold in a later match.

    (SD-Agencies)