MELBOURNE, Jan 21: The early departures of Serena and Venus Williams from the Australian Open was a setback for the American sisters, but their rivals believe it is just a matter of time before they come roaring back.

Serena’s reign as Australian Open champion ended on Friday when she was beaten by Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, while Venus made her earliest exit in five years from a grand slam with her first round loss to Bulgarian teenager Tsvetana Pironkova.

But former world number one Martina Hingis has no doubts the pair will be back in contention soon enough.

“They’re such survivors. I’m sure they’re gonna bounce back,” Hingis told a news conference on Saturday.

“No-one would have thought that Venus was gonna win another grand slam last year and she came out there and won Wimbledon.

“It was the same with Serena last year, winning here.

“It depends on them, how much they really want it. I don’t think they’re just gonna walk away like that.”

Kim Clijsters, who won the U.S. Open last year and is currently ranked number two in the world, said she still regarded the sisters as the best in the world.

“They can still win every tournament that they play. They still have the power and the ability,” the Belgian said.

“I think when they’re at their best and they’re at their fittest, they’re the best athletes out there.”

The Williams sisters dominated women’s tennis for the past six years, with Serena winning seven grand slam titles and Venus five. At their peak, in 2002 and 2003, they played each other in four consecutive grand slam finals, with Serena winning them all.

Powerful Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo said she believed the days when the Williams won every tournament were over, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t win more grand slams.

“It was already over a couple years ago when Justine (Henin-Hardenne) had some great moments in all the grand slams, and Kim (Clijsters) as well,” Mauresmo said.

The world numer three said both Williams sisters had come in for criticism at the same time last year, but then Serena snatched the Australian Open title.

“And at Wimbledon, a lot of people were saying, ‘they’re not focusing on tennis enough,’ or whatever. Then Venus comes up and wins the event, so you just really never know.”

Meanwhile, in an open letter to Serena published on Saturday in Britain’s Independent newspaper, leading coach Nick Bollettieri said there was something missing from her game.—Reuters