Williams injures ankle in win at Brisbane

Serena Williams has injured her left ankle while playing her first tournament since last September in what looms as a significant setback for her Australian Open preparations.

Williams, in her first trip Down Under since winning the 2010 Australian title and playing a tournament for the first time since losing last year's US Open final, was serving for the match at 6-2, 5-3 against Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski on Wednesday when she was wrong-footed and twisted her ankle, falling to the court on the baseline.

She needed treatment and had the ankle re-taped before losing the next point to surrender a service break. Williams limped through the next game, wincing in pain at times, before securing a 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the Brisbane International quarterfinals.