VENUS WITHDRAWS FROM AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venus Williams, seven-time Grand Slam winner, has withdrawn from playing in this year’s Australian Open. She has been plagued with injuries since the middle of the 2010 season. Besides, she has been struggling with her fight against Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease.
The disease is caused from fatigue and joint pains, something that the tennis star has often faced in her long and illustrious career. The disease is characterized by a loss of energy and severe joint pains.
She posted on her personal website, mentioning that she won’t be taking part in the upcoming Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year. She also said that while she has been out of the competitive circuit for over 5 months, she has been in intensive training and has been under constant supervision and treatment.
She hopes to return to competitive fitness in quick time. Due to her absence from the professional circuit, her ranking has been constantly slipping. She also pulled out of the WTA event held in Auckland. In fact, she hasn’t played professionally since August 2011.
In her post on her website, Venus Williams mentioned that she has been making improvements by leaps and bounds and reckons she would be ready to play at the international level very soon. She is confident of returning to the circuit in February for the WTA event. Her colleagues join her fans in wishing her a speedy recovery and return to the circuit.
Caroline Wozniacki, the current leader in women’s tennis said that Venus has been on the circuit for many years and if not for her medical condition, she could be there for some time to come. She also believes that Venus will be completely fit by February. In the meantime, Wozniacki is the firm favourite to win the Open now that Venus has been ruled out, with the latest tennis betting placing her at 3/1 to win.