The final season-ending WTA Tour event at Madison Square Garden will be short several of tennis' top attractions. Venus Williams, who has dominated the tour this year with victories at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Sydney Olympics, withdrew with a case of anemia. Serena Williams pulled out with a foot injury suffered in Canada.

France's Amelie Mauresmo (leg), Anke Huber of Germany (right wrist), and French Open champion Mary Pierce (right shoulder) qualified but are sidelined.

But the tournament should not bereft of excitment if Hingis and Davenport resume their rivalry. They have played in the final here the last two years, with Hingis winning in 1998 and Davenport gaining revenge a year later.

The two squared off for the fifth time this season -- all finals -- at the Advanta Championship in Philadelphia as Davenport won her fourth title of the year.

The second-seeded American beat Hingis to claim her third career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. The two should have met in another final but the State Farm Women's Classic in Scottsdale was rained out.

Although Hingis failed to win a Grand Slam crown for the first time since 1996, she is still the world's No. 1. The 20-year-old from Switzerland has won a tour-high eight titles this season, going 73-10 -- 11-1 on carpet.

Hingis opens against Julie Halard-Decugis of France on Tuesday and Davenport takes on Russia's Elena Dementieva.

The appearance of Dementieva and Belgium's Kim Clijsters add some novelty to the event, along with the return to Madison Square Garden of American Jennifer Capriati after an eight-year absence.

Dementieva is one of the season's big surprises after reaching the U.S. Open semifinals and capturing the silver medal in Sydney.

Also making her Chase Championship debut, Clijsters, 17, has won two titles this season. She begin the year with a victory at Hobart, was runner-up in Filderstadt in October, and reached a career-high ranking of No. 20 by winning the Sparkassen Cup three weeks ago.

Clijsters takes on a member of the old guard, No. 5 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, tonight at 8:00 pm EST.

Sanchez-Vicario has not won a title this year and is in danger of going without a title for the second time in the last four seasons. Runner-up in 1993, the 28-year-old Spaniard will be making her 12th appearance at this event. She has lost her last two matches here and three in a row overall.

Earlier tonight, fourth seed Conchita Martinez of Spain takes on Elena Likhovtseva. Martinez reached the quarterfinals at the Chase Championships from 1992-1996 but has suffered first-round losses the last three years. She won her lone title of 2000 at the German Open in May and reached the final at the French Open, but was a semifinalist this past weekend in Philadelphia.

Likhovtseva withdrew from the Advanta Championships with a back injury but has assured organizers that she is healthy enough to compete this week.

This is the 30th edition of the world championship for women's tennis and the 24th time the tournament will be held at Madison Square Garden. The WTA has chosen to move the event to Munich, Germany starting next year, for financial reasons.