Two-time champion Serena Williams withdrew from Wimbledon on Friday because of a chronic knee injury.
She had also withdrawn from the French Open, which starts today. Wimbledon starts on 26 June.
Williams won Wimbledon in 2002 and 2003, beating her older sister Venus in both finals. She reached the third round last year, while Venus won the title for the third time.
Serena Williams has played just four matches during the last eight months. Her only tournament this year was the Australian Open, where she lost in the third round.
Once ranked number one and the winner of seven Grand Slam titles, Williams is now 108th in the WTA Tour rankings.
Meanwhile, former champion Mary Pierce withdrew from the French Open on Friday because of a right foot injury that’s kept her off the tour since February.
She said she decided on Thursday night to pull out, in part because her preparation also was limited by a groin injury.
“I don’t feel 100 percent ready to be competitive at this tournament. I don’t know when I will compete again. I haven’t set a date yet,’’ Pierce said.
She injured her foot during the Open Gaz de France in February and hasn’t played in any tournaments since then. Pierce said she can’t move well in practice.
Though unsure of when she’ll return to action, Pierce said she hopes to play at Wimbledon, which begins on 26 June

4 July 2005
In Roger Federer and Venus Williams, the 119th Championships embraced two familiar figures as Singles champions. Federer triumphed in the Men's Singles for the third successive year, while Williams, whose form and ranking sank to a depressing low after injury, pulled off a spectacular comeback as the 14th seed to collect her third Ladies' title in six years.

Despite poor weather towards the end of the second week, the tournament was completed on time, with Federer's stunning, straight-sets victory over Andy Roddick the highlight of the culminating day. The world No.1 has now won 36 consecutive matches on grass, just five short of matching Bjorn Borg's record, and he has also now won the last 21 finals in which he has played. The winner's cheque of £630,000, while obviously welcome, was of secondary importance to him, as was evident by his reactions at the end - tears of joy.

With every match, Federer is setting new standards for his peers to attempt to emulate, and the portents for those labouring in his wake are not promising. "This is the best match I have ever played," he said after beating Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Asked where he went from here, the American said, "Home, fast."
The success of Williams in an all-American final against Lindsay Davenport restored the women's trophy to US hands after Maria Sharapova's success for Russia in 2004. The previous five years had all gone the way of American women, with the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, claiming two each and Davenport becoming the last champion of the 20th century.

On her way to Centre Court, Williams had to pass beneath the famous Rudyard Kipling quote in the All England Club's main hall about triumph and disaster "and treating those two impostors just the same". Certainly she flirted with disaster before claiming triumph in the shape of the aptly-named Venus Rosewater Dish and prize money of £600,000. She faced match point in the third set and half a dozen times stood just a couple of points from defeat, only to claw her way back to win 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) 9-7.

Perhaps the surprise of The Championships was the victory in the Men's Doubles of Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie, who became the first qualifiers ever to capture the Wimbledon title in only their second tournament together. The Australian Huss and South African Moodie. defeated seeded opposition in five consecutive rounds, culminating in a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 over the American twins, Bob and Mike Bryan, who have now lost in the final of all three 2005 Grand Slams.
The Ladies' Doubles championship went to the Zimbabwe/South Africa pairing of Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who scored a surprisingly easy 6-2, 6-1 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo, the Russian/French combination who were unseeded as a doubles pair but are among the leading lights of the women's singles rankings.
There was a popular victory in the Mixed Doubles for Mary Pierce, runner-up at the French Open and a singles quarter-finalist in here, and Mahesh Bhupathi. The French-Indian duo were the last of the trophy winners on the final day, completing a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the Ukraine's Tatiana Perebiynis and Paul Hanley of Australia.
There was disappointment for the 48-year-old Martina Navratilova in her bid to break Billie Jean King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles. Victory in either the Ladies' or Mixed doubles would have seen King's long-standing mark eclipsed, but Navratilova was beaten in the semi-finals of the Ladies' event and the quarters of the Mixed.
The Boys' Singles honours again went to France, with Jeremy Chardy defeating Holland's Robin Haase 6-4, 6-3, while the Girls' champion was a Pole, Agnieszka Radwanska. She beat Austria's lone female entrant at The Championships, Tamira Paszek, 6-3, 6-4.

The United States, represented by Jesse Levine and Michael Shabaz, captured the Boys' Doubles with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Samuel Groth of Australia and Britain's Andrew Kennaugh. The Girls' Doubles was won by Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus and Agnes Szavay of Hungary. They defeated the New Zealand-Romania pairing of Marina Erakovic and Monica Niculescu 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-0.

The winners of the Ladies' 35 and Over Doubles were two former Grand Slam singles champions, Tracy Austin and Jana Novotna, while the Men's event went to Ellis Ferreira and Paul Haarhuis.
Johan Kriek and Kevin Curren won the Gentlemen's 45 and Over Doubles for the third year in a row, beating Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee in a third set tiebreak.

The total attendance for The Championships was 467,188.

3 July 2005
Venus Williams captured her third Wimbledon title in the space of six years in a final of high drama and record length when she outlasted Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 9-7.

At 2 hours 45 minutes the match exceeded the previous mark for a women's final. In 1970, Margaret Court and Billie Jean King battled for 2 hours 28 minutes before Court won, 14-12, 11-9.
This was the 27th match between these two, and it turned out to be easily the most dramatic, with Davenport missing a match point at 5-4 in the third set, then needing to go off court for treatment to a back injury. Twice more she came within two points of what would have been her second Wimbledon win, before her spirit and her legs gave out against an opponent who simply refused to recognise the possibility of defeat.

As Davenport's weakly-struck forehand plopped into the net, Williams shrieked and leapt high into the air, a process she repeated after receiving the Venus Rosewater Dish from the Duke of Kent.
As 14th seed, Williams is the lowest-seeded player in the Open era to win Wimbledon, a victory which sits well with her triumphs of 2000 and 2001. In the following two years she was runner-up to her younger sister Serena but a persistent stomach strain and consequent lack of form had pulled her down the rankings.

Under grey skies the match got underway an hour later than scheduled, because of the delayed men's semi-final between Andy Roddick and Thomas Johansson. The delay seemed to cast a cloud over the play, too. Perhaps it was because they have played each other so many times before, but their was little spark in the opening set. Davenport twice broke a listless Williams to lead 5-2 before Venus pulled herself together, won nine points in a row and threatened to make a fight of the set after all.

Davenport fought off the counter-attack to close out the first set in 33 minutes, but this was merely an overture to an afternoon of the highest drama. Williams held, and missed, a break point at 5-4 in the second set. Davenport promptly served for that set at 6-5, only to be broken comprehensively without collecting a single point. A resurgent Williams then ran up a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak before winning it 7-4 to set the scene for the final, gripping set.

The balance tipped Davenport's way when she broke for a 4-2 lead, as the crowd buzzed in expectation of Lindsay going on to win. However, she was clearly in some physical distress and after being broken for 3-4, Davenport left the court for treatment to a back injury.
Though visibly in pain, Davenport held serve on her return and in the next game stood at match point after Williams perpetrated her ninth double-fault, a weak error which also betrayed her nerves. But a thumping backhand got her out of trouble, at least temporarily. Twice more Davenport held serve to stay in front, twice Williams skated perilously close to disaster, two points from defeat in two successive service games.

But the outcome was predictable as Davenport, exhausted and ailing, finally dropped her serve to fall 7-8 behind. This time there was no mistake from Williams, and she was even able to afford the luxury of a 10th double-fault on her way to a stunning victory.

3 July 2005
For the third time in three years, Andy Roddick has had to accept defeat on a grass court to Roger Federer, the only player to have beaten him in that time on the natural surface.

Much to the frustration of the American, seeded two for these Championships and playing his second Wimbledon final, everything he threw at the Swiss world No.1, defending champion and top seed was coolly defended and countered.

"Maybe I'll just punch him," Roddick joked to Sue Barker after the presentations. "I want to win this tournament so badly but this guy is the best in the world for a reason." The disappointment was etched on Roddick's face as he came to terms with his defeat, which was worse than last year when he at least snatched a set off the champion.
By the time he faced the press, his sense of humour and fair play had taken over. "I'm not going to sit around and sulk and cry," he said. "I tried everything - I tried playing different ways, going to his forehand and coming in - he passed. I tried his backhand and coming in - he passed. I tried staying back but he figured out a away to pass me, even though I was at the baseline!"

Warming to his theme, he added: "He played head and shoulders above what he played last year. I probably played a more complete match this year but when you look at the stats - 49 winners and 12 errors - I was bringing heat too but you just have to sit back and say 'too good' sometimes and now all we can do is hope he gets bored or something."
Asked whether there was anything about Federer which was negative, he replied candidly: "If I said anything it would be out of jealousy or spite. The thing that separates him from us is that he is the most physically gifted player I've played against. But with that, he's just become so solid mentally - he's become a mental force too. You put those two together and it's a tough combination."

His four set semi-final victory over Thomas Johansson had in no way affected Roddick's performance in the final, which he said was not a physical match. And, while he didn't enjoy losing, he did enjoy playing it, Roddick said.

"I have fun out there when I'm competing and I feel like I'm playing well. Tennis is always fun for me. Tennis isn't fun when I can't do the things I want to and when I'm nervous," he said.

"But I was out there competing, giving it my all. That's a good day for me but you have to put it in perspective. I lose this tennis match, I go on, I still live an amazing life and I have a great time. I can't sit around and pout about too much.

"But am I angry that I lost? Yes. Do I want to win? I would give anything to win this tournament. That is the tough part." Roddick believes Federer is the measuring stick for all current players, so he doesn't decry his own achievement. "Yes, I'm proud, especially as I know what I put into it. I am not going to sit here and beat myself up about getting to the final and doing better than 126 other guys and losing to a guy that everybody here is debating whether he's the best of all time. I'm not going to ruin what I've accomplished just because he was better than me today."

And with that, Roddick has set his sights on revenge at the US Open.