Williams pair plan tentative return to Tour

Venus Williams, whose future in tennis has been in doubt, has decided to fulfil a commitment to compete in the Hamburg Cup next week. The 19-year-old American has not played on the WTA Tour since November last year.

Less than two months ago, after being unable to defend her singles title in Key Biscayne, Florida, because of tendinitis in both wrists, Venus was advised by her father, Richard, to take the remainder of the year off and consider an alternative career.

However, it was confirmed yesterday that Venus will test her fitness in Germany before deciding whether to continue her preparation for the French Open, which starts on 29 May.

Her younger sister, Serena, the United States Open champion, is due to play at the German Open in Berlin on 8 May. Serena, 18, has not played since being defeated by Jennifer Capriati in Key Biscayne. Serena is recovering from tendinitis in a knee.

On the men's tour, the unseeded Marat Safin served up the biggest upset of the Barcelona Open yesterday when he beat the third seed, Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador,7-6, 7-5 in their quarter-final.

The Russian, a winner of just four matches all season before this week's clay court tournament, took 88 minutes to blast past Lapentti. After an exchange of breaks Safin took the first set tie-break 7-3 and then broke Lapentti at 5-6 in the second set, the Ecuadorean putting a volley wide on the first of three match points.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, of Spain, also booked a semi-final place with a straight sets win, the 20-year-old Davis Cup player easing past the fourth seed, Marcelo Rios of Chile, 6-3, 6-4. Ferrero will face Carlos Moya of Spain, who beat Germany's Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-4, while Safin takes on either Younes El Aynaoui or Magnus Norman.

Haas, the German No 9 seed, had earlier beaten Britain's Greg Rusedski in their third-round match on Thursday. In an encounter between two big-serving players, which did not feature so much as a break point in the opening set, Haas overcame Rusedski 7-6, 6-3.