Venus and Serena Williams Boycott Indian Wells Tournament, Facing Possible Suspensions

Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams are sticking together and standing firm on their decision not to play in a major tournament.

Under the new 2009 WTA rules announced Wednesday, both sisters face Tour suspensions for continuing to boycott the Indian Wells tournament, where they were booed in 2001, according to Eurweb.com.

Their boycott stems from a 2001 semi-final match at the tournament when the sisters were scheduled to play each other for the chance to face Belgian Kim Clijsters in the final. Venus pulled out with a knee injury five minutes before the match, causing many to question her motives for the exit. Serena was booed in the final, which she won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

"I don't play that tournament," Serena told reporters at the U.S. Open Wednesday following her victory over Venus in a quarterfinal match. "I guess there are a lot of tournaments you have to play next year or you get suspended."

Venus added, "The WTA is a good place. All of us live in a free country. We're able to make a choice whether we want to play or not. Players don't like suspensions. It's tough for the top players. It's a lot of give and not necessarily a ton coming back. If it's best for the sport I guess we all have to contribute."

The sisters told WTA chief executive Larry Scott that they'll continue to skip the event despite the suspensions. The boycott will cost them bonus money and precious ranking points starting next year as long as they remain in the world top 10.

Their refusal to appear would also lead to their suspension in 2010 for two premier events on the calendar following Indian Wells. That would drop them from Miami and Madrid events in 2010.

Meanwhile, Serena survived a pair of tie-breakers Wednesday night to defeat her older sister Venus 7-6, 7-6 and advance to tonight's semi-final match against Russian Dinara Safina.

"It felt like the final of U.S. Open. I can't believe I won. Wow!," Serena said of her battle with Venus. "It was difficult because she is such a great player."

Serena and Venus Williams at U.S. Open Today

Serena and Venus Williams have rounded out the recent competition, and are set to play each other in a quarterfinal tennis match scheduled for today at the U.S. Open in New York.

The meeting will be their first since June, when Venus beat Serena in the finals of Wimbledon. Today's match will also be the 17th Williams vs. Williams showdown of their professional career.

"If I had a sister and she wasn't very good, then it would be just not really a big deal because I would beat her," Venus said Monday, after she and Serena assured a quarterfinal matchup.

Serena added, "I'm glad we're both pretty good at it, because I always use her," she said. "If I'm going somewhere and they give me a nice gift I'm like, Well, my sister, she's not here, but she would love that.' If she was no good then I wouldn't be able to do that. And, I always keep it. She doesn't even know about it half the time. I guess maybe she'll know about it now."

Both sisters easliy won their fourth-round matches. Venus, seeded seventh, beat No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3. And No. 4 Serena defeated wild-card entrant Severine Bremond of France 6-2, 6-2, according to the Associated Press.