ANTWERP, Belgium, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Serena Williams, the world's
sixth-ranked player, has pulled out of next week's inaugural
Proximus Diamond Games due to a lingering right ankle injury,
the Sanex WTA Tour announced Friday.
To replace her in the field and as the second seed, older sister
and world No. 2 Venus Williams has accepted a wild card into the
tournament at the Sportpaleis.
Serena Williams suffered the injury on Jan.11 in her
semifinal against fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy at the
adidas International at Sydney. She also missed last month's
Australian Open.
"I'm very disappointed," Serena Williams said. "I was really
looking forward to visiting Belgium for the first time. But
unfortunately, the healing process from my injury in Sydney has
taken longer than anticipated. ... It is important for me to get
back to 100 percent, especially at this early point in the
year."
This marks the second withdrawl of a top-10 player from this
tournament due to injury. World No. 5 Kim Clijsters of Belgium
pulled out of the $585,000 event last Friday with a stress
fracture of the right arm.
