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Venus seeded third for Australian Open
Perth, Jan 10: Venus Williams will be the third seed for the Australian Open tennis matches after the withdrawal of her sister and defending champion Serena from the event, tournament director paul McNamee said today.
McNamee said he was disappointed Serena had pulled out of
the event, citing ongoing problems with her left knee.
The former world number one had surgery in Los Angeles
for the problem last August.
She had been scheduled to play in the Hopman Cup
international mixed teams event in Perth this week but pulled
out at the last minute to be replaced by Lindsay Davenport.
"She's the defending champion but I knew when she pulled
out of Hopman Cup that there must be something afoot," McNamee
said. "As you know her management was continuing to confirm she
was going to come but it wasn't coming from Serena herself.
"Her folks had said she was coming here so obviously that
was always going to effect her preparation for the Australian
open. "I think the good news is that Venus is playing in Hong
Kong. She beat Chanda Ruben last night so Serena is out and
Venus is in. So there will be a Williams at Melbourne Park."
The Australian Open, the first grand slam of the year,
starts in Melbourne on January 19.
Bureau Report