Serena gets doubles go ahead

Venus Williams will partner her sister after all

Serena Williams will form a doubles partnership with her sister Venus at the Sydney Olympics after an arbitrator ruled out a bid by Lisa Raymond to replace the defending U.S. Open singles champion on the American tennis team.

Raymond has expressed her extreme disappointment at the decision and insists she deserves a spot on the team because she is the top-ranked doubles player in the world.

"You don't fight your butt off to become the number one doubles player in the world and don't get chosen to go the Olympic Games. How that's not good enough - you tell me," said Raymond.

The WTA rankings were used to determine the singles members of the team, with Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Monica Seles all selected for the Olympics. But in the case of the doubles, coach Billie Jean King completed the squad by picking the younger Williams to play.

You don't fight your butt off to become the number one doubles player in the world and don't get chosen to go the Olympic Games. How that's not good enough - you tell me

  Lisa Raymond

The elder Williams sister had hinted after winning Wimbledon that she may have missed the Olympics if Serena was not selected.

Lisa Raymond: Disappointed

Despite capturing the women's doubles at Wimbledon with Venus, the younger Williams has no ranking on the tour as a double player because of the infrequency of her competition.

"The USTA's goal has always been to provide a fair and objective process in selecting the U.S. Olympic team," said Rick Ferman, executive director of the U.S. Tennis Association.

Raymond seemed to elicit some sympathy from one member of the side. Monica Seles said the controversy could have been avoided if the team had simply gone by the rankings, which she said was "a much fairer process."