Venus Williams Withdraws From ASB Classic
From Staff Reports
|
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
|
(December 19, 2011) Venus Williams withdrew from the ASB Classic in New Zealand Monday because she wasn’t ready to return to professional competition, according to the tournament’s website.
Williams, 31, played only four tournaments in 2010. She withdrew from the US Open, her last tournament of the year, after she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease.
Since then, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1 has been receiving treatment for the illness, which can cause fatigue and joint pain.
Williams has played in a series of exhibitions within the last few weeks, but she told her agent on Monday she wasn’t ready to make a return.
The ASB Classic is one of the first two tournaments of the year. Williams is still scheduled to compete at the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 16.