Serena injures knee, pulls out of semifinals

The fact that Serena Williams had to pull out of her semifinal match against Aleksandra Wozniak at the Bank of the West Classic is bad enough, but it could be an even bigger blow to U.S. Olympic hopes. Serena joins sister Venus and Lindsay Davenport on the injured list. Venus and Davenport, both missed this week's event and have pulled out of next week's East West Bank Classic in Carson, Calif., with right knee injuries. Serena Williams said she still plans to go to Carson, but will likely have an MRI before then and could choose to rest up for the Olympics next month.

Williams retired from her match after losing the first set and falling behind in the second set. "It was hurting in practice and I didn’t really practice too long because it was hurting,” Williams said. “After I got off, it was really swollen. I thought that I have to play really fast.”

Wozniak will play in Sunday’s final against sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli, who beat Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3 in the other semifinal. The match will be on ESPN2 at 4 p.m.

Williams said the injury is different than one that forced her to undergo surgery on her left knee in 2003 and miss eight months. But that knee has bothered her since, forcing her to drop out of the 2004 Athens Olympics and to miss significant time again in 2006. She played 26 matches in a three-month span that went through her loss in the Wimbledon final to big sister, Venus. She returned home and played for the Washington Kastles of the World Team Tennis league before arriving at Stanford for her debut in this tournament.

Photo credit: AP/Ben Margot