Knee Injury Sidelines Serena

Richard Williams said last year that daughters Venus and Serena were probably going to split tennis’ Grand Slam events in 2000. The sisters quickly dismissed his quirky notion.

Dad looks like a prophet now.

Venus, 19, sat out the Australian Open in January because of tendinitis in both wrists. On Friday, Serena, 18, withdrew from the French Open before the draw because of recurring tendinitis in her left knee.

Will they flip for Wimbledon?

Including this latest last-minute withdrawal, the sisters have both played in only one of last four Grand Slam tournaments--the 1999 U.S. Open, which Serena won. Venus lost in the semifinals. And neither has been quite the same in 2000.

Most of the focus has been on Venus, who only recently resumed competition. After months of rumors of an early retirement, she returned for the clay-court season in Europe, losing early in two events. Her most recent loss was to Jelena Dokic of Australia at Rome.

Serena’s less-than-overwhelming season--losses to Elena Likhovtseva and Paola Suarez--took a downturn when she suffered a knee injury during the loss to Suarez in April. “I really thought I was going to be able to play,” she said of the French Open. “I never would have come all the way to Europe if I hadn’t believed I’d be able to go on the court, and I am so disappointed.”

If Serena had entered the French Open, she would have been seeded eighth. Now, that spot goes to three-time champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, who, if form holds, could face the fourth-seeded Venus in the quarterfinals.

Drawing a potentially difficult first-round match among the top players was Monica Seles. Seles, seeded third, will face the rapidly improving Silvija Talaja of Croatia. Talaja will play in the final today at Strasbourg, France, against Rita Kuti Kis.

Sanchez-Vicario, Venus Williams and fifth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain are in the same half of the draw as second-seeded Lindsay Davenport of Laguna Beach. Among the seeded players in the other half of the draw with top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland are Seles, sixth-seeded Mary Pierce of France and seventh-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France.

On the men’s side, the most intriguing first-round match pits second-seeded Pete Sampras against Mark Philippoussis of Australia. Should he get past Philippoussis, Sampras has two other formidable clay-court specialists in his quarter of the draw: Alex Corretja of Spain, a French Open finalist in 1998 who is seeded 10th, and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, a talented 20-year-old who is seeded 16th.

Defending champion Andre Agassi, who will play wild-card entrant Anthony Dupuis of France in the first round, is in the same quarter as seventh-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, ninth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and ’98 champion Carlos Moya of Spain.