Jamie Murray and his doubles partner Bruno Soares missed out on a first title of 2018 after losing in the final of the Qatar Open.

The top-seeded pair were beaten 2-6 6-7 (6-8) by second seeds Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Vavic of Croatia.

Murray and Soares battled to find fluency in the opening set with the Brazilian struggling on his serve.

The pair tried to rally in the second set but their opponents proved too strong in the tie-break.

In the men’s singles, French wildcard Gael Monfils advanced to the final after the top seed Dominic Thiem from Austria, withdrew ahead of their semi-final with a fever.

He will face either Guido Pella of Argentina or Russian Andrey Rublev in Saturday’s decider.

Meanwhile, defending champion Katerina Siniakova beat former world number one Maria Sharapova to reach the final of the WTA Shenzhen Open in China.

The Czech player sent down 27 winners and 10 aces to triumph 6-2 3-6 6-3 and set up a meeting with world number one Simona Halep.

The Romanian top seed beat her compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-4.

British number two Kyle Edmund had an injury scare as he pushed world number three Grigor Dimitrov to three sets in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.

The 22-year-old needed treatment after he went over on his right ankle at 4-4 in the decider.

He was able to resume but went on to lose 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.

Edmund will now have the injury assessed before 2018’s opening Grand Slam, which starts on 15 January.

With Andy Murray already out with a hip problem, Edmund is due to be the highest-ranked Briton in the men’s singles.

• ‘It’s an awful long way back for Murray’

He crashed to the ground with a scream after being wrong-footed by Dimitrov during a rally. After seeing Edmund’s distress, Dimitrov immediately leaped over the net and sprinted to his aid, helping the Briton to his chair.

Edmund’s ankle was taped up and he appeared reasonably comfortable on his return to the court, but the momentum had gone and two games later the match was over.

The Briton had looked solid in the opening set and had break points to go 4-3 ahead. Dimitrov saved both and in the next game the Bulgarian took advantage of a couple of errors to break for a 5-3 advantage, before serving out the set when Edmund netted a backhand.

Edmund had to save two break points in the ninth game of the second set and, encouraged, he swept through the tie-break to deservedly level the match.

The deciding set was equally close with Edmund saving two break points in his opening service game but he was unable to seal a first win in 14 attempts over a top-10 ranked player.

Reigning Masters and French Open wheelchair tennis champion Alfie Hewett says becoming world number one is “something he always dreamt of”.

The 20-year-old from Norwich goes into this month’s Australian Open ranked second and could go above Argentinean Gustavo Fernandez at the top.

“I’ve got nothing to lose and quite a lot to gain,” Hewett told BBC Norfolk.

“It’s sprung on me so quickly but I’m going to rise to it, try to take on the challenge and just go for it.”

Inspired to try a new sport?

Find out how to get into disability sport with our special guide.

Former world number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from this month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.

The 36-year-old American last week played her first match since giving birth in September.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner and the reigning Australian Open champion, said: “Although I am super close, I’m not where I want to be.”

On Thursday, Britain’s Andy Murray pulled out of the tournament, which starts on 15 January.

William was eight weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia when she won her seventh Australian Open title in 2017.

The world number 22 said: “My coach and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’.

“I can compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time.

“The memory of last year’s Open is one that I will carry with me, and Olympia and I look forward to coming back again.”

• Bumps, boobs and bouncing back – an athlete’s path through pregnancy

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said: “I’ve been in constant contact with Serena and her team and know this is why she has pushed it and pushed it until the 11th hour to make her final decision.

“Serena transcends the sport in the way she approaches all aspects of her life. It was never going to be good enough for her to just compete.”

Williams lost an exhibition contest against Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi on 30 December 2017, in her first match since giving birth in September.

It is the first time since 2011 that Williams has missed the tournament.

On Thursday, men’s world number four Kei Nishikori withdrew because of a wrist injury.

There are also doubts over the fitness of Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014.

Serb Novak Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, may also miss out with an elbow injury.

‘Another blow for the tournament’ – analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent

It is less than four months since Williams gave birth. She has also got married in that time, but the way she played in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi last week gave real encouragement to those who so desperately wanted to see her defend her title.

Williams might be “super close” but she doesn’t yet think she is in championship-winning shape. There is no word yet on when she will be, but Miami in March may be a good bet.

It is another blow to a tournament which has already lost Andy Murray and can’t be sure whether Novak Djokovic or Stan Wawrinka will be fit to compete.

Craig Tiley has always been adamant all the stars would be in town, but his instinctive optimism would make him a very good economic forecaster for any government in need of a boost.

Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci has been banned for five months for doping, but was not guilty of any “significant fault or negligence” according to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The 29-year-old world number 112, who reached a career-high ranking of 21 in 2010, tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.

However the ITF accepted his result was due to faulty vitamin supplements.

“I never took anything that would favour me or break the rules,” he said.

His backdated ban means he will be free to return to tennis on 1 February.

Bellucci’s suspension means he will miss the Australian Open. He would have had to advance through qualifying to make the main draw of the season-opening Grand Slam event.

As two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray flew home from Brisbane after another comeback foiled by the same old injury, was he leaving behind any hope of scaling the tennis heights again?

The 30-year-old has pulled out of the Australian Open and will now consider whether to have surgery on a hip complaint that has restricted him to exhibition matches since July.

Former British number one Andrew Castle had a hip replacement at 49, while Tommy Haas, the German former world number two, returned from major surgery on the joint to play at the top level, even beating Roger Federer at Stuttgart in June last year.

Both say that Murray’s top-level career is in the balance as he assesses his options.

“It’s just an awful long way back,” Castle told BBC Radio 5 live.

“People don’t generally, in sports like tennis, recover from this level of hip injury – assuming it’s either a labrum tear or full-on arthritis that requires a new hip.

“Andy Murray can probably be at 95% and beat 95% of the tour, but if a piece of your body like your hip, which is so central and important to your movement, needs major surgery, I don’t see any way back.”

Haas, 39, returned to a ranking of 11 in the world after surgery to fix a labrum tear in his right hip in 2010, but knew his career could easily have been over.

“I was 32 at the time and I knew that if the surgery did not go well or if I didn’t put the effort into rehab it might be the end,” the German told BBC Radio 5 live.

“Will Andy ever be the same? Will he ever move the same, with the foot speed that gives him the confidence at the top of the game? That remains to be seen.

“But when you have that nagging pain that is not gong away, you don’t really have a choice but to do it.

“Maybe if he writes off 2018 and then comes back in a year or 18 months, he might feel great at only 32. Look at what the other players are doing in their mid-30s.”

Maclagan, who coached Murray for two-and-a-half years before they parted ways in 2010, admitted that the Scot’s career could be nearing an end.

“It has to be a possibility,” he said on BBC Radio 5 live when asked if this was the beginning of the end. “Let’s hope not.”

“It is clearly serious, he has given it a good go with the rehab and that has not worked and it is time for Plan B.

“It is a little worrying that the problems started at the French Open and he tried to push through to the grass. How much extra damage was done then?”