Venus Williams has become the latest top star to pull out of the Australian Open through injury.

The world No 3 is suffering from tendonitis in her left wrist.

"I'm really sad to miss the first grand slam because I've been working really hard and I was really looking forward to playing" she said.

Four-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles pulled out of the women's draw on Tuesday with a nagging foot injury, as the seedings for next week's tournament were being announced.

Mens absences

Men's tenth seed, Tommy Haas could also be forced out due to a "scary" hip injury.

He would follow Pat Rafter, Britain's Greg Rusedski and Marcelo Rios of Chile who have already been forced to withdraw.

Andre Agassi and Martina Hingis head the men's and women's seedings for the Australian Open tournament starting in Melbourne next week.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Pete Sampras are seeded two and three on the men's side while Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams are second and third among the women.

This is the first Grand Slam under a new rolling ranking system for the men, the ATP Champions Race.

Under the system all players start the year with zero points, and build up an annual total in a manner similar to motor racing's Formula One world championship.