BRIEFLY : WIMBLEDON LOSES SERENA.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Serena Williams has the flu and will miss Wimbledon. And sister Venus is also fighting the bug.

Serena's sudden withdrawal Thursday ended the possibility of a fourth-round showdown between the sisters and left Wimbledon - which begins Monday - without one of its marquee players.

``She has a terrible case of the flu,'' her father, Richard Williams, told the WTA Tour. ``I took her to the doctor this morning and he told her it was best to rest and take it easy.''

The 17-year-old player, seeded No. 10, was replaced in the seedings by Russia's Anna Kournikova, who will be No. 17.

In a Wimbledon warmup at Eastbourne, England, Kournikova beat France's Nathalie Dechy 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain reached the semifinals of the Nottingham Open in England, beating 18-year-old Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 7-5.

Dutchman Richard Krajicek, the 1997 champion, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Heineken Trophy in Den Bosch, Netherlands, beating Italy's Vincenzo Santopadre 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).

In women's play, American Kristina Brandi upset second-seeded Dominique van Roost of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. Brandi will face Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Belgium's Laurence Courtois.

OLYMPICS: An Olympic meeting became a stage for America bashing in Seoul, South Korea, with members venting their resentment at having to take blame for the Games' biggest scandal.

``Our marvelous, wonderful movement . . . will always have been besmirched,'' Mexico's Mario Vazquez Rana told the International Olympic Committee's general assembly. ``This is something that comes from that wonderful country that is the USA.''

As the IOC prepares to choose the host city for the 2006 Winter Games, the process has become as important as the result. Saturday's vote in Seoul will be the first site-selection since the Salt Lake City vote-buying scandal broke six months ago.

The last time the IOC voted on a Winter Olympic site, in 1995, Salt Lake City won the 2002 Games in a landslide. As it turned out, the victory was aided by more than $1 million in inducements to IOC members, 10 of whom have resigned or been expelled.

This time, six European cities are vying to be the winter stage in 2006: Helsinki, Finland; Klagenfurt, Austria; Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia; Turin, Italy; Sion, Switzerland, and Zakopane, Poland.

After initially pledging full cooperation, Atlanta Olympic officials now want to restrict federal investigators from photocopying certain documents among eight boxes of papers they want to keep out of the public's hands.

FOOTBALL: Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell, eager to ease the debt of his financially strapped NFL team, is seeking an investor to buy a minority share of the club.

Despite salary-cap problems and Deion Sanders' nagging toe injury, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has agreed on a contract extension for the All-Pro cornerback.

Quarterback Heath Shuler, a college star who has had little success in the NFL, has been waived by his second team in less than four months. The Oakland Raiders cut him on the eve of a three-day minicamp.

Offensive tackle Andy Heck, cut by Chicago this month, has signed a one-year, $450,000 contract with the Washington Redskins.

SOCCER: Lawrence Lozzano, who scored 10 goals two seasons ago, was claimed on waivers by the New York-New Jersey MetroStars. He was scoreless in six games with the Galaxy this season.

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Photo

Photo: SERENA WILLIAMS

A bad case of flu has knocked her out of not only Wimbledon singles but doubles with sister Venus.