Black Tennis Pros

As per her official website, American Venus Williams made this statement:

"I regret to announce that I am withdrawing from the 2012 Australian Open. After several months of training and treatment, I am making steady progress to top competitive form. My diet and fitness regimen have allowed me to make great strides in terms of my health and I am very close to being ready to return to WTA competition. I have every intention to return to the circuit in February."

In August of 2011 Venus disclosed that she had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s Syndrome, a chronic autoimmune disease in which people’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands causing low energy levels and joint pain among other symptoms.

Sounds like she's controlling the disease and not letting it control her - true champion style. 

Read the rest of this post...........

American Venus Williams, whom most seemed to think looked pretty good in her round one match, has withdrawn from the 2011 U.S. Open because of an unspecified illness.

Will update as information becomes available.

Read the rest of this post...........

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will be sidelined indefinitely, though she did not say why she will be out of action.

"I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible," Williams said Tuesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships. "I'm not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport."

Williams said last week she was dealing with a medical issue when she announced her withdrawal from the Bausch & Lomb tournament. She played last week in the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

Williams will not play for the United States in the Fed Cup semifinal against Russia on April 26-27, but did not rule out any other tournaments and said she still wants to play in the French Open beginning in late May.

"Of course I want to be there (in France)," Williams said. "I don't want to be at home watching on TV. Watching this week will be enough on TV, so hopefully not too many more weeks."

Here's wishing Venus a speedy recovery so that we can enjoy her talents back on the court.

Thanks for the heads up BlogPassion.

Read the rest of this post...........