Williams sisters share spotlight with resurgent Agassi

They’ll join fellow teen-agers Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova at the French Open, starting Monday.

Oh sure, the guys will be playing, too. A trimmer Andre Agassi will try to display his renewed confidence on the clay surface that suits him best, and Pete Sampras will try again for the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him.

Agassi has moved back up to 20th in the ATP Tour rankings, but that wasn’t good enough to be seeded. So he ended up with a potential match against defending champion Gustavo Kuerten that could be the highlight of the second round.

The focus at Roland Garros, though, clearly will be on the women.

Five-time French Open champion Steffi Graf isgone, her career winding down amid a series of injuries. Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport are still around, but have become overshadowed by the teen gang.

The Williams sisters, who learned tennis from their father on a municipal court in downtrodden Compton, California, are at the forefront of that group.

Venus, 17, has jumped into the top 10 in the rankings with a 198 kph serve and powerful groundstrokes generated by a 1.86 metres frame. Though she’s relatively inexperienced on clay, she made the final of the Italian Open two weeks ago before losing to the world’s top-ranked woman, Hingis. The elder of the Williams sisters, in her first tournament since recovering from tendinitis in her left knee, defeated two-time French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the semi-finals in Rome.

Though she intimidates most opponents with her serve-and-volley game, she also impressed Hingis with her patience and her ability to rally from the baseline.

"Venus is the toughest one of all. Right now she’s the No2 player in the world," said Hingis, who has lost twice this year to Venus. "She’s all legs and all arms."

The spotlight on the men’s side will fall on Agassi, who has never won at Roland Garros. Since dropping as low as No 141 last year, he has rehabilitated himself by playing in minor tournaments and shedding 25 pounds while working back into the top 20. His last appearance at the French Open ended with a second-round loss two years ago.