The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Injured Serena pulls out

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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Injured Serena pulls out

MADRID: Sluggish and injured Serena Williams lost her third consecutive clay match to crash out of the Madrid Masters after pulling the plug while trailing 6-4 to Francesca Schiavone in the first round on Monday.

The exit of the second seed leaves Williams in a precarious position without a victory on the dirt heading into the May 24 start of Roland Garros.

“After the first set I did not want to risk anymore. I’m hoping to be ready for Roland Garros,” she insisted.

Williams, who also lost in Marbella and last week in Rome and has suffered with thigh and knee injuries, effectively stayed on court for 45 minutes to avoid a 75,000 fine which the WTA would have imposed for failing to play the new tournament.

The multimillionaires have already lost several hundred thousand dollars in year-end bonus pool money as a result of refusing to compete at Indian Wells last March.

“I don’t know about you, but 75,000 is a lot of money to me,” said the winner of more than two million dollars in prize money so far this season. “I’m redecorating a house and 75,000 is my furniture budget, some stairs...

“I can’t just go writing cheques for 75,000 in this economy,” added the ten-time Grand Slam champion, a 24-million-dollar woman over the course of her career.

Williams insisted with some bravado that she would aim to play both singles and doubles at the French Open, starting a week from Sunday.

Williams has not won a match since April 2 in a Miami semifinal over her sister Venus.

Russian eighth seed Nadia Petrova reached the third round as she overhauled German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

The results:

At Madrid (ATP Madrid Masters & WTA Madrid Open): Men: First round: Simone Bolelli bt Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 7-6(3).

Women: Second round: Elena Vesnina bt Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-3; Patty Schnyder bt Aleksandra Wozniak 6-2, 6-4; Nadia Petrova bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5); Elena Vesnina bt Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-3. First round: Francesca Schiavone bt Serena Williams 6-4 (retd.).

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