Serena Williams announced her withdrawal from the 2011 French Open about 24 hours ago - now her sister Venus Williams will be out as well.
Venus Williams, the former world number one, has not competed in a tour match since she pulled out of the 2011 Australian Open back in January. The problem in Melbourne was an abdominal injury and the American has failed to recover in time for the quickly approaching 2011 French Open.
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion who has never won the French Open, now joins thirteen-time champion Serena on the sidelines.
Serena, 29 years old, has been out of tennis a lot longer than Venus has as Serena has not played since winning last year's Wimbledon title due to a foot injury which has required two operations over the past year.
Russia's Dinara Safina, a two time finalist in Paris, will also miss the French Open as she has decided to take a break from the game to try and let her body recover fully from back problems.
