By Adrianna Outlaw
© Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(October 6, 2010) Venus Williams came within a few points of the US Open final last month. Today, she announced her season is over. The third-ranked Williams has pulled the plug on her season due to the left knee injury that limited her to 11 matches since the French Open. Venus will not play in next month's Fed Cup final leaving captain Mary Joe Fernandez to hope younger sister Serena, who has not played since winning her 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, will represent the USA against defending champion Italy.

"I have been getting treatment and therapy on my knee and have been making progress, but unfortunately must continue to keep weight off my knee for the short term and won’t be ready to return to competition in 2010,” Williams said in a statement issued to the Associated Press. "I am looking forward to returning to full health in time for the start of 2011 season and hopefully having the opportunity to play in both the Fed Cup and WTA Championships next year."

The 30-year-old Williams missed the entire US Open Series due to the knee injury. Her court appearances were confined to World TeamTennis, a few clinics and a book signing appearance at the Los Angeles tournament. Though she was short on match play, Williams wielded an abundance of experience, a whipping 120 mph first serve and her competitive acumen to reach the US Open semifinals where she tested defending champion Kim Clijsters in a tight three-setter before succumbing, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in a rollercoaster of a wildly windy match.

Though her quest to reach her first US Open final since 2002 came up short, Williams said after that match she will be back.

"I definitely feel like I'll be back next year. This is what I do, and I feel like I played great tennis even with minimal preparation," Venus said. "Obviously I would have liked to win this match and be playing tomorrow.  I may have lost the match, but that's just this match.  There will be others."

This was a schizophrenic season for Venus, who played some of her best tennis in years, but missed large sections of the season with injury. She concludes the year with a 38-7 record, two singles titles and an 18-1 doubles mark with Serena, including the Australian Open doubles championship.

One of only two women to reach at least the fourth round in all four majors, Williams suffered a surprising Wimbledon quarterfinal loss to World No. 82 Tsvetana Pironkova then did not play again until the Open. In New York, she showed she's still a major force, but can she keep her body intact for a full season at an age where many players begin to break down?

Venus still owns one of the most lethal first serves in the sport, she produced a 15-match winning streak earlier this season in winning back-to-back titles on hard court (in Dubai) and on clay (in Acapulco) and went on to reach the Sony Ericsson Open final in Miami before suffering a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Clijsters.

On her worst surface, red clay, Williams beat eventual French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and eventual French Open finalist Samantha Stosur in succession to reach the Madrid final last month. She played some spring events without any adhesive taping on her knees or thighs, an encouraging sign for a woman who has long competed with tape adorning some part of her body.

Williams posted a 19-3 hard-court record this season with her hard-court losses coming to Na Li in the Australian Open quarterfinals and to Clijsters in the Miami final and the US Open semifinal.

USTA officials may well be suffering a bit of anxiety over the Fed Cup final.

Venus and Sereana both committed  to representing the USA in the Fed Cup final against defending champion Italy on an indoor hard court at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, November 6-7th.

The Williams sisters were set to join the core U.S. Fed Cup group of 2009 US Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and World No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber, who have led the United States to its second straight Fed Cup final.
 
Now Venus is out and while Serena has said she plans to play again before the end of the season, given the fact she has not played a match since the Wimbledon final in July and withdrew from the 2009 Fed Cup final in Italy days before it was set to start can captain Fernandez count on Serena in the line-up against a talented Italian squad that includes French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta?

The Americans are seeking a record-extending 18th Fed Cup championship. The Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport led the USA to a 4-1 victory over a Russian squad that included Elena Dementieva and Ekaterina Makarova in the 1999 final in Stanford.

Twitter junkie Serena has not yet commented on Venus' status, but did take time out to tweet that she and former boyfriend Common, who were photographed together on the beach in Miami, have not reunited.

"We are not dating!!!!" said Serena, who can throw down exclamation points with the frequency of service winners.