Maria in laundry mixup

Maria Sharapova says her Australian Open preparations have gone smoothly despite her lack of recent on-court action, all barring a mix-up at the Melbourne Park laundry over a pair of leopard print underwear.

Sharapova, Australian Open champion in 2008, pulled out of her title defence at the Brisbane International two weeks ago because of a left forearm problem, one of a string of injuries to have dogged the 28-year-old since the middle of last year. Nevertheless, the fifth seed said she was good to go in her bid improve on her runner-up finish to Serena Williams in her fourth Melbourne final last year.

One thing Sharapova perhaps had not expected on Saturday was a question about laundry mishaps but happily she had an anecdote immediately to hand after the quirky inquiry was made. "I actually just returned a pair of underwear that wasn't mine, like 45 minutes ago. Funny you ask that," she laughed. "It was a female pair of underwear, not male. It was leopard. I'm like, 'that's not mine'. "Any more laundry situations I need to clear up before we get on with our day?"