Wounded players limp towards French Open

Tennis courts around the globe have started to resemble battlefields as the walking wounded hobble around desperate to gain some much-needed match practice ahead of next week's French Open.

While Goran Ivanisevic, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis have already thrown in the towel and will stay away from Roland Garros, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova are both hoping to win their fitness battles before the claycourt Grand Slam gets underway on Monday.

Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic is expected to be sidelined for up to six months after having surgery to repair his damaged shoulder and Davenport has been out of action since January when she had an operation on her injured knee.

But former world number one Hingis's ankle problem, for which she underwent surgery on Monday, has caused the most concern as her doctor has suggested the injury might threaten her career.

"We cannot yet say how sensible it would be for her to continue her career or whether to end it would be advisable on medical grounds," Dr Heinz Buhlmann, who is treating Hingis, said last week.

Hingis's mother and coach Melanie Molitor speculated that her daughter's joint damage -- which also forced her out of this month's German and Italian Opens -- might have been caused by the shoes she wore from the age of 11 until three years ago.

The Swiss player is involved in a legal battle with manufacturers Sergio Tacchini after alleging that their shoes damaged her feet.

This latest setback for the 21-year-old Hingis follows only months after another painful foot injury brought her 2001 season to a premature end last October.

FREAK SPRAIN

Williams, meanwhile, had been in the final phase of her French Open build-up when a freak wrist sprain -- caused by lifting luggage -- put paid to her Italian Open campaign at the last moment.

While her participation at the claycourt showpiece event is now almost guaranteed, fans will no doubt be on the lookout to see if the Williams power machine will come out with guns blazing.

Whatever the case, Williams will be keen to avoid a repeat of her 2001 performance, when her French Open campaign ground to an embarrassing halt in the first round with defeat to Barbara Schett.

Kournikova, without a singles title to her name after almost seven years on the tour, is no longer considered a serious contender to win any tournament. But despite her lack of success on court, she undoubtedly remains one of the major attractions on the women's tour because of her glamorous looks.

Having missed the majority of 2001 with a stress fracture, the Russian still managed to secure the most column inches around the world for her off-courts exploits which earned her a massive 6.9 million pounds ($10.08 million) from endorsements.

Such is the appeal of the 20-year-old Kournikova that Parisians will be keeping their fingers crossed that she is able to recover from her groin strain and walk through the Roland Garros gates next Monday.

TOP PRIORITY

While Kournikova and Williams battle to regain fitness, several other players will be hoping to come out unscathed when they take centre stage on the punishing red clay courts.

Having only just come off the casualty list, staying healthy will be the top priority for both defending champion Gustavo Kuerten and 2000 winner Mary Pierce.

Brazilian Kuerten spent more than two months on the sidelines following hip surgery in February while recurring injuries forced Pierce to sit out most of the 2001 season.

Since returning to competitive tennis, the form of both players remains suspect and both suffered crushing defeats in tournaments last week.

"It hasn't been easy coming back but that's the way it goes," said Pierce, who is fighting her way back up the rankings after plummeting to 195.

"The red clay is my favourite surface and I'm happy to be playing on it again but I'm trying not to think too much about Paris."

"At the moment I just want to stay healthy and play as many matches as I can.

"But I feel it's coming back. I believe I have the ability to be among the top players. I just have to be patient," the 27-year-old Frenchwoman added.