Williams sisters continue tennis fade with another pair of pullouts

Apr 7, 2006, 16:39 GMT

St Petersburg, Florida - A week after managing to attend a Hollywood film premiere, Venus and Serena Williams Friday pulled from a WTA clay event in South Carolina.

With the former world number 1 pair making a slow exit from the game after not having played since January, the withdraw due to the usual injury reasons came as little surprise.

Serena, claiming a left knee injury which she has carried for months, is down to 88th in the world while Venus, ranked 11th, complained of an elbow strain.

The sisters, who have never hidden their distaste for training and their love of showbusiness and fashion, were able to front up to the film premier and pose for photographs just days ago.

Neither of the former dominating pair has played since the Australian Open, with Venus going out in the first round in Melbourne to a Belarussian and Serena losing in the third round to Daniel Hantuchova.

The field at the tournament will be headlined by four-time Grand Slam champion Justin Henin-Hardenne, former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, plus Russian Nadia Petrova and Swiss Patty Schnyder.