World number four Agnieszka Radwanska has pulled out of next week's Brussels WTA tournament in a bid to protect her injured shoulder ahead of the French Open. The Polish star has been carrying the injury throughout the claycourt season where she lost in the second round in Madrid as well as Rome. "I have had some shoulder problems for a while & on clay it's getting a bit worse," Radwanska tweeted. "I'm afraid it might get even worse, with RG (Roland Garros) and grass coming up. So I felt I had to pull out. It's upsetting, I wanted to defend my title."

Results on the sixth day of the ATP Rome Masters/WTA Rome Open on Friday (x denotes seeding): Men Quarter finals Benoit Paire (FRA) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-1, 6-0 Rafael Nadal (ESP x5) bt David Ferrer (ESP x4) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Tomas Berdych (CZE x6) bt Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 Women Quarter-finals Simona Halep (ROM) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-2, 6-0 Sara Errani (ITA x7) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) - walkover afp

Results on the sixth day of the ATP Rome Masters/WTA Rome Open on Friday (x denotes seeding): Men Quarter finals Benoît Paire (FRA) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-1, 6-0 Women Quarter-finals Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-2, 6-0 Sara Errani (ITA x7) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) retired afp

Russia's Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the Rome Open, citing "physical problems", the WTA said on Friday. The two-time winner of the tournament and world number two had been due to play Italy's Sara Errani in the quarter-finals. Sharapova, the defending champion, posted a message on her Twitter account explaining the reason for her withdrawal. "I'm sorry for having to withdraw from the tournament this morning. Didn't recover after being sick last week and it got me again last night," Sharapova said.