( CNN ) -- Former world number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Brisbane International tournament in Australia after suffering an ankle injury in Wednesday 's third-round victory over Bojana Jovanovski . However , the American hopes it will not stop her from competing at this month 's Australian Open , an event that the 13-time grand slam champion has won five times -- a record in the post-1968 Open era . The world No . 12 sustained the injury while serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set of her clash with Jovanovski at the Pat Rafter Arena . The Serbian broke to keep the contest alive , but fourth seed Williams responded to earn a 6-2 6-4 win before the results of a scan forced her to exit the Queensland event . Serena : ' I do n't love playing tennis ' `` I 'm disappointed to have to pull out of the Brisbane International , '' the 30-year-old Williams told the tournament 's official website . `` I have been to hospital and it has been confirmed that I have a left ankle sprain that I probably should n'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 . '' Williams was playing in her first event since losing to Samantha Stosur in the final of the U.S. Open in September , when she was fined $ 2,000 for verbally abusing the match umpire . The Michigan native has been plagued by injury in recent years , having twice undergone foot surgery after stepping on a piece of glass in July 2010 and then suffering blood clots on both lungs . `` It was such an unexpected end to the tournament , '' she said . `` I did n'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 . '' Slovakia 's Daniela Hantuchova is guaranteed a place in the last four as a result of Williams ' withdrawal , having beaten American Vania King 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the third round on Tuesday . Jovanovski 's fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic reached the quarterfinals after the former world number one earned a straight-sets 6-3 6-2 win against Russian qualifier Nina Bratchikova . Jankovic next faces Italian third seed Francesca Schiavone , who defeated Kazakhstan 's Galina Voskoboeva on Tuesday . Estonia 's Kaia Kanepi set up a last-eight clash with German second seed Andrea Petkovic after cruising past Russian No . 7 Anastasia Pavlyuchenko 6-0 6-3 . Elsewhere on the WTA Tour , top seed Sabine Lisicki battled the elements to record a hard-fought 7-6 ( 7-3 ) 3-6 6-3 success against fellow German Mona Barthel in second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland , New Zealand . A 90-minute rain delay disrupted the opening set , which Lisicki eventually won in a tie-break , and the world No . 15 clinched the decider in a match which saw both players surrender seven breaks of serve . Lisicki next faces compatriot Angelique Kerber , who upset fifth seed Julia Gorges 6-2 6-3 in another all-German encounter . Chinese second seed Peng Shuai crashed out of the hard-court event , losing 6-4 6-3 to the Czech Republic 's Lucie Hradecka . The 26-year-old Hradecka will face Peng 's compatriot Zheng Jie in the last eight , after the world No . 48 eliminated Romanian eighth seed Monica Niculescu 6-0 6-2 . Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova thrashed American Christina McHale 6-1 6-1 to set up a clash with Italy 's Sara Errani -- who beat 2010 champion and 2011 runner-up Yanina Wickmayer . The Belgian seventh seed lost 4-6 6-1 6-1 in her second match since an injury retirement at September 's U.S. Open . Fourth seed Flavia Pennetta beat Britain 's Elena Baltacha 6-4 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal with Russia 's Elena Vesnina , who eliminated the 2010 runner-up 's fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-4 . Meanwhile , the United States ' hopes of retaining the Hopman Cup ended after a 3-0 Group A loss to the Czech Republic . World No . 2 and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova got the Czechs off to the perfect start by beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2 6-1 , then Tomas Berdych defeated top-ranked American men 's player Mardy Fish . World No . 7 Berdych and Kvitova made it a clean sweep for the Czechs by taking the dead doubles rubber 6-3 7-5 . The result put the Czechs in a strong position to qualify for the final ahead of their last group match against Denmark on Friday . The Danish pair of world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and Frederik Nielsen lost 2-1 to Bulgaria 's Tsvetana Pironkova and Grigor Dimitrov . Wozniacki defeated Pironkova 7-5 4-6 6-2 in the opening rubber , before Dimitrov leveled for Bulgaria with a 7-6 6-2 win over Nielsen . Bulgaria won the deciding doubles rubber 6-3 7-5 , but both teams can still qualify for Saturday 's final .
Serena Williams withdraws from Tsvetana Pironkova due to an ankle injury . The Australian had earlier managed to defeat Melbourne 's Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-4 . The 13-time grand slam champion hopes to be fit for this month 's American Open . Williams has won the Melbourne event 12 times , a record in the Open era .