BRISBANE, Australia - Maria Sharapova has injured her right collarbone and decided to withdraw from the Brisbane International as a precaution ahead of the Australian Open. . The French Open champion pulled out of the Brisbane tournament on Tuesday after feeling pain while practicing before her opening match. "I still have quite a bit of time to prepare for Australia. Im on the right track, been training really well, so I just dont want to jeopardize what Ive gained in the off-season so far," the No. 2-ranked Sharapova said. "Just have to make a smart move here." The 25-year-old Russian also withdrew from the Brisbane International last year because of injury but recovered quickly to reach the Australian Open final, where she lost in straight sets to Victoria Azarenka. She said the latest injury also forced her to withdraw from a recent exhibition tournament in South Korea, but was "not at all" related to the right shoulder problem which has plagued her since 2008. "I had a bit of inflammation in my collarbone, and I sent (scan results) to a doctor in New York and he told me I couldnt really do much overhead training for about a week," she said. "So to be fair, I havent really given myself a chance to pretty much hit any serves or anything over my head ... So I just kind of ran out of time here." Sharapova said shed started practicing her serves again on Monday and it wasnt enough time to properly prepare for a tournament featuring eight of the top 10 women. The Australian Open starts Jan. 14 at Melbourne Park. The four-time major winner told a news conference earlier in the Brisbane tournament that she felt relaxed and relieved to have finally broken a Grand Slam drought by winning the French Open last year. The win at Roland Garros completed a career Grand Slam and was her first major title since the 2008 Australian Open. On Tuesday, she reiterated she was "feeling so much better." "I just dont want to jeopardize what Ive built on," she said, adding that her decision to skip the 2012 Brisbane tournament was a good example of putting her health ahead of match practice. "Its kind of the way that Ive always built my career around the fact that its very important for me to go into something like the Australian Open believing and knowing that Im healthy, that Im confident. "I dont exactly need to play five tournaments in order to feel that way." Sharapovas absence gives Australias Jarmila Gajdosova a direct route to the quarterfinals, where shell meet Slovakian veteran Daniela Hantuchova. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-New-York-Jets-Geno-Smith-Jersey-C... Smith Black Friday Jersey . Hudson (4-5) gave up only one run on eight hits and two walks in seven innings, and struck out six. He also added a hit for Arizona, which had dropped the opener of this two-game set on Monday. . The move is believed to make room for AHL scoring leader Ryan Strome to be added into the Islanders lineup. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Detroit-Lions-Jason-Jones-Jersey-... . Valpo (22-10), the fourth seed in this years event, also saw Cory Johnson and Howard Little score in double figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively. The ninth-seeded Penguins (9-21) were paced by Damian Eargle with 21 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Cleveland-Browns-Isaiah-Crowell-J... Crowell Cyber Monday Jersey . After splitting two games in Los Angeles, the teams will meet again in New Orleans for Game 4 on Sunday. The Hornets have now dropped two straight since surprising the Lakers to take Game 1. Although this one was never out of reach until the fourth quarter, the Hornets never had a lead after Chris Pauls layup made it 6-4. . Andre Iguodala added 18 points and Kenneth Faried had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who improved to 11-2 at home this season after their eight-game winning streak at the Pepsi Center was snapped Thursday in a loss to Minnesota.INDIANAPOLIS - Colts coach Chuck Pagano befriended John Harbaugh years ago. Now Harbaughs former defensive co-ordinator in Baltimore is about to become a Ravens fan all over again. After seeing three AFC division leader lose in Week 15, AFC South champion Indianapolis moved back into contention for a first-round bye with Sundays 25-3 win over Houston. If the Colts and Ravens each win their final two games, Indy can start prepping for a divisional round game at home. "I always root for those guys, so I guess well be rooting for those guys again," Pagano said Monday. "Our focus is on us because it really wont matter if we dont take care of business, but well root for those guys, too." Last Monday, after losing at Cincinnati, the Colts (9-5) appeared to be locked into the AFCs No. 4 seed and were trying to generate some momentum before hosting their first playoff game of the post-Peyton Manning era. But after losses by Denver (11-3), New England (10-4) and Cincinnati (9-5) this past week, the Colts find themselves right back in the seeding chase. Indy closes out the season with a trip to Kansas City, which locked up a playoff spot with a win at Oakland, and at home against a Jacksonville team that has been much better over the second half of the season. Win both and anything, including a longshot jump to the No. 1 seed, is still possible. Cincinnati finishes at home against Minnesota and Baltimore. New England visits Baltimore and wraps up the regular season at home against Buffalo. Denver has trips to Houston and at Oakland, and the Chiefs close things out at San Diego. So if the Colts and Ravens win their last two, Indy have a better overall record than either the Bengals or Baltimore and would win a tiebreaker over New England on better conference record. Theyre just not looking at it quite the same way. "Regardless of what happens with anyone else, we want to win the rest of our games and kind of be catching fire here at the right time going into the playoffs," left tackle Anthony Castonzo said. "We want to be pplaying our best ball regardless of what happens with any other teams. [url=http://www.shopnflonline.net/Black-Friday-Buffalo-Bills-Colton-Schmidt-Jers... Schmidt Black Friday Jersey. " After six weeks of slow starts and mostly frustrating football, the Colts looked more like the early-season team that jumped out to a big division lead. They led 20-3 at halftime, forced two turnovers, set up another score with a long punt return and produced their most lopsided victory since Sept. 29. It was easily their most complete game since Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne went down with a season-ending knee injury Oct. 20, and the difference came down to adjustments Andrew Luck & Co. made this week. Indy started the game with a no-huddle offence, got more receivers involved with a series of screens and was able to run the football in the second half. Darius Butler picked off two passes, too, giving him eight over the last two seasons, and Robert Mathis forced his second safety of the season. Thats how the Colts want things to look each week, not just against the scuffling Texans. "Everybodys jockeying for playoff position," Butler said. "You have the teams that are either fighting in the hunt or trying to climb another seed or two. So were jockeying for playoff position. We know every win counts, thats what we can control and what we do. Hopefully, other teams fall off pace, but we just want to keep stacking up wins." Notes: Pagano said offensive lineman Joe Reitz, who started at guard Sunday, was diagnosed with a concussion and will go through the NFL protocol. ... Most of the Colts other injured players are considered day-to-day. Those on the list are: linebacker Daniel Adongo (hamstring), receiver LaVon Brazill (foot), running back Donald Brown (stinger), safety Sergio Brown (groin), fullback Stanley Havili (knee), centre Samson Satele (elbow), cornerback Greg Toler (groin). ... Pagano said he is hoping to have defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois (foot) back for the Jacksonville game but noted he could return this week. ___ Online: http://pro32.ap.org ' ' '