Williams sisters withdraw from doubles at French Open

Venus (left) and Serena Williams have won the French Open doubles twice. (Charles Krupa/AP) Two-time champions Venus and Serena Williams have withdrawn from

Courtney Nguyen|

Venus (left) and Serena Williams have won the French Open doubles twice. (Charles Krupa/AP)

Two-time champions Venus and Serena Williams have withdrawn from the French Open doubles tournament, giving the team of Anastasia Rodionova and Alla Kudryavtseva a walkover into the second round. No official reason was given, but the withdrawal is not surprising considering that Venus has been dealing with a back injury that she sustained in March.

Venus lost to Urszula Radwanska 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 in the first round of singles Sunday. Top-seeded Serena is into the third round after beating France's Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to extend her career-best winning streak to 26 matches. Serena will face Sorana Cirstea in the third round.

In other doubles news, Laura Robson, who was set to play with Lisa Raymond, has withdrawn because of a back injury. Raymond had played 71 consecutive Slams dating to 1995.

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Published May 29, 2013 | Modified May 29, 2013

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.

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