Madrid - Serena Williams cited lingering leg injuries after she quit a tennis match, trailing Italy's Francesco Schiavone 6-4 and avoiding a potential 75,000-dollar fine from the WTA at the Madrid Masters Monday. Like last week in Rome, where the world No. 2 exited a day after proclaiming that she - and not actual No. 1 Dinara Safina - held the top spot, the Williams week got off to a dismal start.
The American admitted that she gave the Madrid opener away in the long-odds hope that she can play both singles and doubles at the French Open, starting in 13 days.
"After the first set I did not want to risk anymore. I'm hoping to be ready for Roland Garros."
Williams, with 24 million dollars in career prize money, added that she was not about to pay a fine for missing Madrid after complaining that tough new WTA rules forced competitors to play while hurting.
But the sanction would have only come due had she not played and then not turned up in the city later for a mandatory public relations exercise sometime over the course of a year.
The 45-minute match still left a bitter taste.
Williams repeatedly bristled at what would be a wrist-slap of a fine for her. She has already forfeited hundreds of thousands from the year-end bonus pool for skipping Indian Wells in March.
"I don't know about you, but 75,000 is a lot of money to me. I'm redecorating a house and 75,000 is my furniture budget, some stairs...
"I can't just go writing cheques for 75,000 in this economy."
The ten-time Grand Slam champion won her last match more than a month ago when she beat her sister Venus in a Miami semi-final. She has since gone out on clay in Marcella and Rome, playing while injured.
In the second round, Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki moved through when opponent Shahar Peer also quit injured, down 5-4.
Roberta Vinci joined compatriot Schiavone in advancing, beating Maria Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
In men's play, France's ninth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, sent Marat Safin closer to his end-of-year retirement with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat.
Swiss 11th seed Stan Wawrinka advanced with an easy match over Italian Marco Crugnola 6-2, 6-0 while Spanish 12th seed David Ferrer beat Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-2, 6-2.
American Mardy Fish, an Estoril quarter-finalist last week, earned his fourth win from seven spring clay matches, defeating Serb Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
