Newz Forum: OTHER: TENNIS: Injured Venus prevents all-Williams final in Carson

CARSON, Calif. (AP) - A bum wrist cut short the latest chapter in the rivalry between Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.

Davenport led 7-5, 2-0 in the JPMorgan Chase Open semifinals Saturday when Williams retired because of a right wrist injury. Williams said she tweaked it while pushing off her arms to get up after tying her shoe two hours before the match.

However, a doctor who examined Williams diagnosed it as a sprain and advised her to rest until Monday, when she will be re-evaluated.

"At 3-0, I started to have issues," Williams said. "I just couldn't control my forehand that much and the more she saw that, the more she was hitting there and that didn't help."

Davenport advanced to Sunday's final for the eighth time in nine years, having won three titles. She will play top-seeded Serena Williams, who defeated No. 4 Elena Dementieva 6-3, 7-6 (2) in front of 7,963 at Home Depot Center.

"I'm happy to be in the final, but I know the playing conditions weren't level," Davenport said. "You can't have tons of confidence from that."

Davenport hasn't beaten Serena since the 2000 U.S. Open quarterfinals, with Williams winning five in a row since then, including a straight-set victory on clay at Charleston, S.C., in April.

Serena won the Chase Open in 1999 and 2000, when she beat Davenport in three sets.

Originally posted by TRD
Williams said she tweaked it while pushing off her arms to get up after tying her shoe two hours before the match.

Sounds more like a baseball injury to me...

Yeah Gibbs or just an excuse. She was getting beaten and maybe thought she couldn't win.