NEW YORK (AP) — The illness did not creep up on Venus Williams all of a sudden. As far back as 2007, she remembers being overcome by fatigue and wondering what the heck was going on.
It took four years for her to figure out the real diagnosis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and it all came to a head last year at the U.S. Open, when she pulled out hours before her second-round match.
She’s back this year and feeling better, with a clear diagnosis and a vow not to push herself so hard off the court. Williams comes into the U.S. Open unseeded and ranked 47th but with some confidence, after a run to the semifinals at a tournament in Cincinnati earlier this month.
