Sania Mirza pulled out of the Qatar Open WTA tennis tournament on Wednesday following a calf injury.

The 46-ranked Indian tennis ace announced her decision just before her second round singles match, in front of a capacity crowd on the centre-court in Doha, against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko.

The 20-year-old had sustained the injury during her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italy's Romina Oprandi in the opening round on Monday.

She will return to her hometown Hyderabad, where she will undergo a scan on Thursday.

Her next scheduled tournament is the Indian Wells Open.

Sania had pulled out of the doubles event on Tuesday. She and partner Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, seeded fourth, were slated to play Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik of Australia in the first round.

"It is a minor calf strain. It is nothing serious. Hopefully it will be fine," Sania had said after her victory over Oprandi.

A WTA official confirmed that Sania had pulled out due to an injury. The official added that a new pair, Ma Emilia Salerni of Argentina and Ekaterina Ivanova of Russia, replaced Sania-Garrigues duo in the main doubles draw.

Bondarenko, the 2004 junior Wimbledon champion, overcame seventh seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany on Tuesday. The Ukranian qualifier made Groenefeld pay for an error-ridden showing and continued her march in the tournament.