Injury Forces Capriati to Pull Out of Games

Jennifer Capriati withdrew from the Athens tennis tournament because of an injured right hamstring and will be replaced on the U.S. team by Lisa Raymond, who previously had won a doubles berth with Martina Navratilova.

Capriati, who won the gold medal at Barcelona, recently had pulled out of competitions at Carson and Carlsbad before losing at Montreal, where she aggravated the hamstring.

“My Olympic experience at the 1992 Games in Barcelona remains one of the most special in my career and I waited until the last minute, hoping I could again represent my country,” Capriati said in a statement. “I was looking forward to playing for [Coach] Zina Garrison and with the other members of the U.S. team ... but, instead, will be watching and rooting for the U.S. team to bring back Olympic gold.”

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With the opening ceremonies drawing closer, ticket sales for the Athens Games are making an expected surge.

Organizers said that the number of tickets sold had increased to 2.5 million, slightly less than half of the 5.3 million available. Organizers want to sell at least 3.4 million.