Serena Williams pulls out of Dubai Tennis Championships

Serena Williams has withdrawn from this week's Dubai Tennis Championships
because of a lower back problem.

The 31-year-old, who on Monday became the oldest woman to top the women's
world rankings, had been one of the favourites for the title.

It means the tournament will be without the world number one and number two
after Victoria Azarenka pulled out through injury on Tuesday.

Azarenka, unbeaten in 2013, has been hampered by a foot problem.

The 23-year-old Belarusian sustained the injury on her way to winning last
week's Qatar Open, when she beat Williams in the final.

Williams was set to face Marion Bartoli in the second round, but the
Frenchwoman will now meet Caroline Wozniacki in the next round.

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Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka face fines for Dubai withdrawals
Courtney Nguyen
Thursday February 21st, 2013

AFP reports Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams are facing fines and
penalties for their late withdrawals from the Dubai Championships this week.

Azarenka withdrew from the tournament for the second straight year on Monday,
citing a bruised heel and fatigue. As a result, she'll forfeit $100,000 from
the WTA's bonus pool (a $4.9 million pool of incentive payments made
available to top-10 players who satisfy certain minimum commitments at the
end of the year)  and receive a "zero pointer" for the tournament, meaning
the tournament must be included in the calculation of her ranking.

"I unfortunately have to withdraw from this tournament due to a right foot
injury, which happened last week," Azarenka told reporters. "I have been
obviously playing on it a lot, a lot of tennis over the last five days,
especially, so going to a new tournament is too much to handle right now."

Similarly, Williams' Wednesday withdrawal due to the back injury from the
Australian Open means she's forfeited $50,000 from the WTA's bonus pool and
will be charged a zero pointer as well. Azarenka's facing a stiffer
forfeiture because this is the second straight year she's withdrawn from
Dubai after the entry deadline.

"I've just had some back problems the past couple weeks," Serena told
reporters. "It didn't get better. I thought it would get better as the week
went on, but it didn't. I don't want to keep pushing it and make it worse."

THE TOSS: Best man yet to win on ATP?

This is the third time Williams went to Dubai and withdrew without playing a
point.