Serena Williams Drops Out of Fed Cup Opener

Serena Williams withdrew from the U.S. team’s first-round Fed Cup match at Slovenia.

Williams had been named to the squad by captain Zina Garrison in March, but she was not on the International Tennis Federation’s official team nomination list Wednesday.

Laura Granville was listed as her replacement for the April 24-25 series. Venus Williams, Lisa Raymond and Martina Navratilova, 47, also are on the team.

“The health of our players is the most important consideration in selecting a team member to represent the U.S.,” Garrison said in a statement. “As captain, I respect Serena’s decision to withdraw from this first round of Fed Cup.”

Williams returned to tennis last month after an eight-month absence because of left knee surgery in August.

Top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne also will sit out the first round of the Fed Cup. She withdrew from the Family Circle tournament Tuesday because of dizzy spells from a low blood-sugar count. Belgium was the 2001 Fed Cup winner.

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Jennifer Capriati defeated Lina Krasnoroutskaya, 6-3, 6-1, to reach the third round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C.

Lindsay Davenport followed up last weekend’s victory at Amelia Island, Fla., by defeating Jelena Jankovic, 7-5, 6-3.

In another match, sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva beat Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-2, 6-2.

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Making his first clay-court appearance in nearly three years, Goran Ivanisevic lost to Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 6-1, in 65 minutes in the first round of the Estoril Open in Oeiras, Portugal. In another upset, French teenager Richard Gasquet beat second-seeded Nicolas Massu, 0-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5).

The upsets extended to women’s play, with top-seeded Elena Bovina losing to Marta Marrero, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3, and second-seeded Alicia Molik falling to Henrieta Nagyova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8).

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Fourth-seeded Albert Costa was upset by Christophe Rochus, 6-4, 6-3, at the Valencia Open in Spain. Rochus faces sixth-seeded Alberto Martin in the quarterfinals. Martin defeated Fernando Vicente, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Former world No. 2 Albert Corretja was upset by Marc Lopez, 6-4, 6-4.

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The French Open will offer more prize money than last year, but women will still earn less than men. The purse of the May tournament will be nearly $16 million, an increase of more than 2%, the French Tennis Federation said. The men’s winner will get $1.02 million, the women’s champion $998,000. Wimbledon also gives more money to the men, while the U.S. Open and Australian Open pay equally.

Boxing

Vernon Forrest, scheduled to make his debut at 154 pounds against Teddy Reid in the semi-main event of the April 24 show at Staples Center, has dropped out because of an injured left shoulder and elbow. Forrest will have arthroscopic surgery Friday to remove bone spurs and chips from the affected area.

Negotiations are underway to replace that match with an International Boxing Federation 135-pound title match between champion Javier Jauregui and challenger Julio Diaz.

Vitali Klitschko and Corrie Sanders will fight for the vacant World Boxing Council heavyweight championship in the main event.

Julio Cesar Chavez, 41, will end his career with a farewell bout against Frankie Randall, 42, titled “Goodbye Mexico ... Thanks” on May 22 in Mexico City at the 45,000-seat Monumental Plaza, the world’s largest bullfighting ring.

Chavez (105-5-2, 85 KOs) once held WBC titles in three weight classes. His first loss in 91 fights came against Randall, who beat him to win the WBC super lightweight title in Las Vegas on Jan. 29, 1994. Four months later, Chavez beat Randall in a majority decision.

College Basketball

Swingman Julius Hodge, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year and second-team All-American, announced that he would stay at North Carolina State for his senior year, choosing not to make himself eligible for the NBA draft.

Hodge led the ACC in field-goal percentage (51.3) and was second in scoring (18.6 points).

Jim Whitesell was hired as Loyola of Chicago’s coach after guiding Division II Lewis the last 12 seasons. Whitesell replaces Larry Farmer, fired last month after the Ramblers finished with a losing record (9-20) for the fifth time in six seasons. Lewis was 24-7 last season and has made five trips to the Division II NCAA tournament.