Williams sisters out of Rome tennis tournament, set sights on Paris

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

ROME (AFP) — World number six Serena Williams has pulled out of the WTA Rome International after hurting her back while training, but thinks she will recover in time for the French Open less than two weeks away.

Her sister Venus soon followed her off the red clay at the Foro Italico, losing in three sets to Serbian titleholder Jelena Jankovic in the quarter finals on Friday.

The fifth-seeded Serena, 26, said of her back injury: "It just happened all of a sudden in practice. I just went for a shot and then my back got a little stuck."

She added: "I don't expect this to cause any problems in my preparations for the French," which begins on May 25 in Paris.

The younger Williams was to have met French sensation Alize Cornet in the quarter-finals on...