Sore Jankovic prepares to lick her wounds

By Ossian Shine

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A battered and bruised Jelena Jankovic is taking time off tennis to heal after injury scuppered her Australian Open hopes in the semi-finals on Thursday.

The Serb was beaten 6-3 6-1 by Russian Maria Sharapova and struggled with back pain throughout.

"I will try to recover and get my body back in shape, because I don't like having injuries," the third seed told reporters.

"When you get one injury, it's kind of like a chain. You get so many others because your body is trying to compensate. So I will just try to do my best and see my physios at home and try to recover."

Jankovic said she felt back pain when trailing 5-3 in the first set.

"I felt really some strange pain in my back where I felt like I was so stuck. I couldn't ... keep going anymore.

"I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd. It's a semi-final, so I played how much I could to finish the match."

The Serb left court to receive treatment but it was of little help.