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| | Saturday, January 15 | |||||
| MELBOURNE, Australia -- Where is everyone on the women's side at the Australian Open?
The week before the first Grand Slam of the year kicks off, two top-seeded players withdrew due to injury.
Monica Seles, a four-time champion, withdrew Tuesday saying she was still not ready to play after a foot injury suffered last October. She was joined the next day by Venus Williams, who pulled out with tendinitis in her left wrist. Williams was replaced as the No. 3 seed by her younger sister, Serena, winner at last year's U.S. Open. In light of the absences, Serena Williams, along with Lindsay Davenport, loom as the biggest threats to No. 1 Martina Hingis. Hingis is trying to become the first woman to win the Australian four straight times in the open era.Serena Williams, though, may have set herself up for problems by skipping the tuneup tournaments in Australia and staying in Florida until a few days before the start of the event. The 20 hours of travel, the change in time zones, and the difference in weather could combine to make her task tougher. Hingis and Davenport didn't take any chances. Both arrived more than a week ahead of time and played in a tournament in Sydney. "I always like to get to tournaments early and play a lot on the courts and hit balls in the atmosphere that it is going to be played in," Davenport said. "If it's really windy, if it's really, really hot, some of those factors can wear on you if you are not used to them." | ALSO SEE Agassi-Graf romance hasn't dimmed Agassi Down Under Drysdale: Pete still the player to beat Shriver: Top seeds are the favorites Injury forces Seles out of Aussie Open Venus Williams withdraws from Australian Open  | |||||
