Venus’ Injury Puts Limp in Sisters’ Plan

The tight grasp of Serena Williams and Venus Williams on major tournament finals slipped away Sunday afternoon, not because someone finally figured out how to outplay one of the sisters, but because of an injury.

Maybe Kim Clijsters of Belgium would have defeated a fit Venus Williams anyway. But the great potential of that semifinal matchup will have to be left to the imagination. After losing five games in 13 minutes, Williams and her tightly wrapped left calf were out of the season-ending Home Depot WTA Championships.

And so, the day went from a limp to a scream.

Shortly after Venus hobbled off the court, younger sister Serena had to play an inspired semifinal to subdue a suddenly fleet and fit Jennifer Capriati.

Serena pumped her fist, glared at a baseline judge who called her for foot faults and, yes, yelled after hitting a winner or one of her 14 aces before an announced crowd of 8,164.

Serena’s 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win in 2 hours 11 minutes against No. 3-seeded Capriati was a much-needed crowd-pleasing match, cutting into the malaise hanging over this event.

Organizers had dodged one potential injury-related disaster when Jelena Dokic was able to play against Serena on Saturday night despite a sore ankle.

Then the Venus injury popped up out of nowhere less than 24 hours later. Williams said she hurt her leg Thursday in the quarterfinal against Monica Seles and it worsened Saturday night.

“A lot of times when you have an injury, with adrenaline and other things, you start not to feel it in the match,” Venus said. “I wasn’t really able to move or get up on my toes or change directions effectively. There’s also a certain amount of fear that the pain you have already and more pain you can get if you go too far.”

Maybe the dark cloud looming over Staples Center came from Munich, Germany. There, in last year’s WTA Championships semifinals, Lindsay Davenport hurt her knee on the second-to-last point against Clijsters, managed to win the match but was unable to play the final against Serena.

“Maybe it’s because of me. Every time someone plays me,” said Clijsters, joking.

So it will be No. 5-seeded Clijsters against the defending champion and No. 1 player in the world in tonight’s final. Williams, by winning, could become the first female tennis player to earn $4 million in one season. She is 5-0 against Clijsters; they met in the Tokyo final in September.

Except for this year’s tour stop in Miami, where Serena beat Venus in the semifinals, it is the first time since Wimbledon in 2001 that the Williams sisters won’t meet in the final of a tournament both entered. They’ve met in four finals since that Wimbledon, in which Capriati beat Serena in the quarterfinals.

Serena was aware Venus was hurting, but Venus said she did not tell her father Richard about her injury because she guessed he would have told her not to play. Serena agreed.

“She was really injured, and I don’t think she should have went out,” Serena said. “I was upset she went out.”

Venus looked as though she was ready to retire from the match a couple of times before she called for the trainer on a changeover, trailing, 0-5. She conferred with the trainer briefly, informed the umpire that she was stopping and went over and hugged Clijsters.

Capriati and Serena always seem to bring out the best in one another even though Williams has now won the last six matches. Capriati won the first set and had a break-point opportunity in the ninth game of the second set. Had she converted it, she would have served for the match.

In the third set, the hardest-fought game was the third, which featured seven deuces. Williams served three aces and fought off one break point but then lost her serve, netting a forehand. Williams looked irritated, swiping at the air with her racket.

But she kept fighting, rallying from a 1-3 deficit. The craziest game of the match was the eighth of the third set, with Capriati serving. A forgiving tape kept yielding net cords for Williams. After another one, Capriati, who eventually won the point, smacked the top of the net hard with her racket.

The decisive break came in the 10th game, at 30, Williams winning it on her first match point as Capriati sent a backhand long.

“Our intensity levels both were so high,” said Williams, who has won 18 straight matches. “We battle each time we play. We bring out the best in each other. She had some amazing returns. Finally, my serve was able to come through in the end.”

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WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS

TODAY’S FINAL, 6:30 p.m., ESPN

at Staples Center

Kim Clijsters (Seeded 5)

vs. Serena Williams (Seeded 1)

Head to head: Williams leads, 5-0