World number six Serena Williams pulled out of the WTA Rome International today after hurting her back while training, but thinks she will recover in time for the French Open less than two weeks away.
Her sister Venus soon followed her off the red clay at the Foro Italico, losing in three sets to Serbian titleholder Jelena Jankovic in the quarter finals.
The fifth-seeded Serena, 26, said of her back injury: "It just happened all of a sudden in practice. I just went for a shot and then my back got a little stuck".
"I don't expect this to cause any problems in my preparations for the French," which begins on May 25 in Paris.
The younger Williams was to have met French sensation Alize Cornet in the quarter-finals today after winning through to the last eight in two straight-sets matches.
Venus, for her part, had her power game dismantled by fourth-seeded Jankovic, who won 5-7 6-3 6-2.
"I had a lot of great opportunities and I made a lot of opportunities for myself, but I made mistakes," the American world number nine admitted.
Looking ahead, 27-year-old Venus said: "I'm always looking forward to the French. Obviously I would have loved to be in the semifinals tomorrow, but now I have the opportunity to work on my game and I feel good about that."
Jankovic will meet second-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova, who saw off Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in a blistering night match, 6-7 (3-7, 7-5 6-2.
The 21-year-old second seed, who will next week reclaim the world number one ranking following Justine Henin's retirement, moved into high gear to overcome a flagging Schnyder in the third set.
A match of breathtaking power also produced some of the most daring gambles, especially in the run-up to the first-set tiebreaker, when both players came up with daring drop shots.
"Even though I lost the tiebreaker I felt I was doing better and doing the right things," Sharapova said.
"As the match went on I started playing a little smarter and started doing what I do best - not letting my opponents get back into points."
