Not suprisingly, Venus Williams withdrew from the inaugural State Farm Women's Tennis Classic on Friday. Williams continues to be plagued by tendinitis in both wrists. This condition has kept her out of action for the entire 2000 season. Sources tell us that she continues to receive physical therapy for the tendinitis in Florida. This is the fourth event that Williams has withdrawn from this year. Her next scheduled appearance is her title defense at the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne starting the week of March 20^th. The loss of Williams only increases the probability of a rematch of the Australian Open final between Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport. Another potential beneficiary of the Williams's withdrawal is Barbara Schett who received the 8^th seed. However, a potential match-up with an unseeded Monica Seles, who faces Silvija Talaja in the first round,lurks for the Austrian in the second round.

Main draw wildcards have been awarded to Mirjana Lucic, Cara Black, and Meghann Shaughnessy. As expected, Shaughnessy received the commonly awarded "home court" wildcard. Despite conditions that allow tennis to be played year round, Shaugnessy is the only player on the Sanex WTA Tour that calls Arizona home. The 20-year old Scottsdale resident is currently ranked #91 and is one of the most persistent entrants on the Tour, with a whopping 33 tournament appearances over the last year. Her best showings this year included the semifinals of Auckland and the quarterfinals last month at Copa Colsanitas. Lucic will be looking to get her season started after an injury and an 0-2 match record have set back the Croatian thus far in 2000. The Wimbledon semifinalist, now ranked #50, suffered a first round qualifying loss in Sydney and ran into Hingis in the first round of the Australian Open. Black earned the final wildcard spot (which Italian Silvia Farina was also considering). Black is currently ranked #43 and is the Aranxta Sanchez Vicario of Zimbabwe with two brothers, Byron and Wayne, on the ATP tour. Black's best result this season was reaching the finals of Auckland, where she lost to Anne Kremer.

In the luck (or lack thereof) of the draw, Shaughnessy and Lucic will meet in the first round, while Black will face American Chanda Rubin in round one with the winner getting Hingis.