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Autoimmune Disease Sidelines Venus Williams

Drops out of US Open because of Sjogren's Syndrome

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 31, 2011 6:01 PM CDT

(Newser) – Venus Williams finally has a name for her biggest foe in tennis: Sjogren's syndrome. The 31-year-old abruptly withdrew from the US Open today, announcing that she has been diagnosed with Sjogren's, an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain and can lead to longer-term problems. (More details on the disease, which affects 4 million Americans, here.) Williams has been plagued with what she previously described as an "energy-sucking" illness for some time now, reports USA Today.

Still, she returned to action Monday with a victory and seemed upbeat about her health until today's surprise announcement. "I enjoyed playing my first match here and wish I could continue but right now I am unable to," she said. "I am thankful I finally have a diagnosis and am now focused on getting better and returning to the court soon." A Bleacher Report blogger is confident she'll be back.

Venus Williams has dropped out of the US Open. (Getty Images)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 5 comments

beckjr2000

Sep 1, 2011 8:22 AM CDT

She is a great athlete. I am truly sorry to see this happen. Good Luck and Best wishes.

Jojo

Aug 31, 2011 7:46 PM CDT

While they are testing her I wish they would test her and her sister both to see if they have man chromosomes like they did that runner in Africa. My money says they do - they have the muscle/skeletal structure of a man, just like the African runner did, which lead to them testing her and finding out she was genetically a man.

Rammrodd

Aug 31, 2011 6:22 PM CDT

Aww

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Autoimmune Disease Sidelines Venus Williams

Drops out of US Open because of Sjogren's Syndrome

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Venus Williams • women's tennis • Sjogren's Syndrome

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