A27526911210949610A - Williams pulls out
Serena Williams pulled out of her Italian Open quarter-final against Alize Cornet on Friday after suffering a back problem during practice.
![Imported from [tennis_1.xml] by [PA Feed] on [17.05.2008 01:15]](/servlet/file/A22689611200479798A.jpg?ITEM_ENT_ID=63208&ITEM_VERSION=47&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=10)
Williams was coming off a tough game on Thursday when Italian wild card Sara Errani battled her all the way in a 6-4 6-3 win.
It was while on a practice court prior to Friday's match with Cornet, a French qualifier, that Williams suffered the injury.
The American's withdrawal means that Cornet advances to play sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze.
The Russian beat Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 3-6 6-1 earlier on Friday.