With both sisters ranking and stamina dropping, how long will they attempt to keep playing the WTA Tour?
Venus, the elder of the two sisters fell ill during 2011 and missed the majority of the season, causing her ranking to drop to 103rd in the world. Making her come back at Miami this year, Venus did well to beat reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, but Venus was shaky at best and looked exhausted after playing the first set of her matches. In tennis years Venus is old, an incredible player in her time but her time is up, I hope she competes in the Olympics and then retires from tennis.
Serena Williams is simply an embarrassment to tennis, over the last several years she has put in zero effort and expected to turn up and be the best player at every tournament she plays! Serena hasnt dealt with being overtaken very well, arguments with umpires, lack of respect for her fellow players and unrealistic boasting like “I probably played 20%” We have seen players like Azarenka, Clijsters and Stosur overtake Williams and she cannot take it. Hopefully promising young American talents like McHale and King can start a new generation of women’s tennis in America, a generation that shouldnt include Serena Williams.
While the sisters are able to make finals and semi finals at the moment, what happens when they are falling at quarter finals? If the Williams sisters are still playing professional tennis in 2013, god help American Tennis!
Venus and Serena Williams will be back playing World Team Tennis this year for the Washington Kastles.
There are going to be a lot of great players in this years WTT pro League which runs from July 9-29. The finals weekend is Sept. 14-16 in Charleston, S.C.
Venus Williams has announced that she wont be coming back onto the tour until February (after the Australian Open). Venus has been training and receiving treatment for several months, she has been getting a lot stronger, but just isnt going to be ready in time for the Australian Open.
Former world number one Venus Williams has withdrawn from next year’s ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand where she would make her first appearance in a tournament since August.
Venus has played at a recent exhibition in Milan and has played only four tournaments in the 2011 season but is still recovering from Sjogren’s syndrome, which causes joint pain and fatigue.
Organizer’s of the event have stated that she is just not ready to come back to the pro circuit. Venus, who is now 31 does have the Australian Open ahead of her coming up on January 16th, so we are all hoping Venus will make her appearance there and hopefully do well in her comeback.
Earlier this month, Venus and Serena Williams took part in an exhibition in Milan. They were playing against the two top players from Italy, Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta.
Everything was going smoothly at the event, but something eventually happened during Venus’s match with Pennetta. It was a point like any other and Venus was stretching out wide to get to the ball. However, as she was returning to the ready position, her dress strap just snapped causing her to almost have a “Janet Jackson” moment.
It’s definitely not the first time Venus had experienced problems concerning her court outfits, but at least she was able to avoid unnecessary exposure. The incident definitely caused a buzz in the stadium and the players were just as amused by the scene.
After Venus announced her diagnosis and that she was leaving the US Open, I’m sure that many folks googled Sjögren’s Syndrome to learn more about what Venus was facing. Here is what I found on the Sjorgren’s Syndrome Foundation site in an article titled About Sjögren’s Syndrome.
Although the hallmark symptoms are dry eyes and dry mouth, Sjögren’s may also cause dysfunction of other organs such as the kidneys, gastrointestinal system, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas, and the central nervous system. Patients may also experience extreme fatigue and joint pain and have a higher risk of developing lymphoma.
Here is what I learned: Sjögren’s is pronounced “SHOW-grins.” There are about 4 million in the USA with this syndrome. It is an autoimmune problem where white corpuscles are attacking healthy parts of the body. There is no treatment nor cure for Sjögren’s Syndrome, but there are treatments for some of the symptoms.
My Commentary
Immune disorders are very common these days. You have been hearing about them for many years. Allergy, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Crohns Disease, Eczema, Graves’ Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and more than 100 more separate diagnoses are listed as “Immune Disorders” when you search Wiki for that term.
What is important for us to understand is that all immune disorders have no cure and there are only treatments for the symptoms. What this means to me is that medical researchers and other professionals are able to document what is happening, but not able to determine why it is happening, nor what to do about it.
I suspect that all these immune disorder diagnoses are simply clusters of documented symptoms. Our modern medical model is based on having clear sets of symptoms for performing diagnosis. If there is a cluster of symptoms the current model permits researchers to agree that this is some syndrome and they can name it after the person who noticed the cluster.
Why Is The Immune System Reacting Like This?
I think this is the key to understanding what we can do about the immune disorder we have. If we understand why our immune system is acting this way, we can take precautions and stop our symptoms.
Our immune system was developed in the world where we were molded and developed. Our bodies were made of the same stuff as everything that was around us. Our immune system’s purpose is to protect us from things it knows are harmful to us or which it thinks might be harmful to us.
But, now our world has changed. Many of the things around us (for instance, modern chemicals) are not part of that mix of things from which we were molded and developed. Our immune systems are not tuned to many of the things we consume, breathe, and touch. So, I think our immune system is reacting to that pervasive cloud of unknown stimuli and doing the only thing it knows how to do. It doesn’t have a simple LCD display it can use to inform us that it is getting confused by all of the foreign stimuli. The display systems it does have at its disposal are mechanisms which give us symptoms. So, I think “immune disorders” are signals that our immune system is under stress and it trying to get our attention.
What Would Make The Immune System Calm Down And Stop These Symptom Displays?
First I want to explain that I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I react to many things in my environment. My symptoms include a rash on my legs, a non-productive cough, fatigue, and arrhythmia. I am able to control these symptoms by not coming in contact with those things to which my immune system reacts.
But, I also work with children with Developmental Disorders (ADHD, Dyslexia, Failure To Thrive, Auditory Processing Disorder, Autism, etc. . .). Each of these disorders also has no cure, and there are some treatments for some symptoms. What is rarely focused on is that these children all have one significant thing in common: their developmental process has been blocked and their symptoms are signals that this process has stopped. When we determine what each of these children are reacting to in their environment and coach them and their families about how to eliminate contact with those things to which they react, their developmental process re-engages and they get back on track. Their immune system was blocking their developmental process as part of its reaction to various things in their environment.
Let me give you an example. Most of the children with whom we work react to the laundry soap used in their home. This means that the residue from those chemicals are in their clothes and is touching their skin 24/7 (as well as the vapor being breathed in). This means that their immune system never gets a break, and their developmental process never gets to re-engage. We have discovered that running the child’s laundry (clothes, sheets, towels, etc. .) a complete extra cycle without any soap being used will get much more of that residue out of the child’s environment.
So, when I hear that Venus Williams has an immune disorder, I think I understand what she is facing. I also know that many millions of children with developmental disorders are stuck as far as their developmental process goes, and our modern medical approach is to give these child medications to stop the symptoms. BTW: The immune systems of the children we work with tend to react to the medications they are given by the medical profession and this helps them stay with a stuck developmental process.
Certainly, Venus should see her doctors and follow their advice and their treatments. But, she should also find out what she reacts to and then eliminate those things from her environment. This can be done by blood tests or a variety of alternative testing methods (we can chat about these methods in the Comments).
From our experience, when she gets everything she reacts to out of her environment, her symptoms will stop because her immune system will stop reacting.
There was a very interesting article in the New York Times about Taylor Townsend. Taylor is only 15 and competing in the US Open 2011 qualifying. Taylor didnt make it through the qualifying event, but she did manage to impress a lot of people.
Richard Williams:
I think she’s better than my daughters at that time.
That is very high praise! It will be interesting to see Taylor progress in the rest of her tennis career.
The injury list for the US Open is growing by the day, so it is going to be a very interesting tournament. The only top male player not on the list is Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic – Shoulder and general fatigue. Has had some issues with patella tendinitis this season
Rafael Nadal – Large burn blisters on fingers and left foot
Andy Murray – Sore arm
Mardy Fish – Heel
Tomas Berdych – Shoulder
Robin Soderling – Wrist – he has announced he will travel to NYC
Jo Wilfried Tsonga – Arm. Ultrasound showed no muscle tear after he withdrew in Montreal.
Andy Roddick – Recently pulled out of Montreal with an oblique but played in Cincinnati.
Milos Raonic – Recovering from hip surgery
David Ferrer – Recovering from hairline fracture in left hand
Tommy Robredo – Withdrawn – Ongoing groin issues
Sam Querrey – Withdrawn – Recovering from elbow surgery (spurs)
Juan Carlos Ferrero – Recovering from multiple injuries
Former world number one Venus Williams of the United States has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup, which takes place in Toronto this week.
The withdrawal was caused by illness. She had gone to see a doctor on Sunday, and they confirmed she has got a viral illness. She has stated that she is “extremely disappointed” that it turned out this way and she won’t be able to play, but don’t fret tennis fans because there are many more top players who will feature at this week’s tournament in Toronto. Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki are just some of the top ladies to headline play this week in Canada.
As a result of Venus’s withdrawal, qualifier Zhang Shuai will step into Williams’ first-round match Tuesday against Ana Ivanovic and Lourdes Dominguez Lino gets the extra spot in the draw.
There is a very interesting article over at PostGame that showcases the top 5 highest paid female athletes. Out of the top 5 there are 4 tennis players in the list!
Thus, if your a female and you want to earn a lot of money from sport, then Tennis is the game for you.
Serena Williams is scheduled to make her return to professional tennis today. Williams will compete in the Eastbourne tournament and is amazingly happy to be back playing tennis after her illness layoff.
Expect both Williams sisters to be strong contenders again at this years Wimbledon that starts next week.
Venus Williams, a former world number one and Grand Slam Champion, has withdrawn from the French Open, after her abdominal injury proved to not be sufficiently recovered.
30-year-old Williams joined her sister Serena on the sidelines after announcing her withdrawal from the only Grand Slam on clay. Williams played her last match at the 2011 Australian Open, which triggered an abdominal injury that has not recovered well enough.
The French Open, which will be held from May 22 to June 5, will be the first Grand Slam to not have a Williams sister in the draw since the 2003 U.S. Open.
Venus has never won the French Open, only getting to the final in 2002, where she eventually lost to sister Serena.
It seems like Ellen Degeneres gets everywhere! Ellen has recently left the judging panel of American Idol, but she thought she would drop into the US Open to increase her profile even more. Ellen enjoyed a new Honey Deuce cocktail with Venus Williams during her book signing. Nice way to get some extra press Ellen!
Both Serena and Venus Williams have been fined $4,000 each for not turning up to a Wimbledon news conference after their doubles quarterfinal loss. Bad losers!
Serena said Thursday she is “shocked to hear” about the penalty, adding she and her sister rarely speak to the media after Grand Slam doubles matches other than finals.
Serena and Venus were the doubles top seeds at Wimbledon. They lost to Russians Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina in three sets Wednesday, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
I love the consistency of womens tennis, but I still find it funny how you can have a match in which you win the first set 6-0 and then lose the next set 6-0!
Currently in the female game I think that there are still 3-4 key players who seem to be in the finals of every tournament they play, but I do think the depth of the womens game is getting a lot better of late. At this years US Open we have seen the return of Kim Clijsters (in which it is great to see her back on court), who has been playing very well and now finds herself in the quarterfinals. However, the point of this article is to discuss how in Kim’s last match she won the first set 6-0 against Venus Williams, but then quickly lost the next set 6-0. It is great to see that Kim sorted herself out to drive through the final set 6-4 to book her place in the quarterfinals. However, do these kind of results still show how hot and cold some women tennis can still be?
Agnes Szavay (29) from Hungary has caused a bit of an upset this afternoon defeated Venus Williams in the third round of the French Open. Venus never really turned up for the match and by the time she got into the flow the match was over. The final score was 6-0 6-4.
The Williams sisters have been having a very hard time already in Paris. Venus was very lucky to move past Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round 6-1 4-6 6-2. In the sets that Venus won she was in control, but seemed to have a huge lapse in the second set and giving away a vital break to lose the set. While at the same time sister Serena has a tough time only just scraping past Klara Zakopalova from the Czech Republic 6-3 6-7 6-4.
It is really good to see that the Williams sisters are having a tough time in the early rounds of a grand slam, it has been a long time since that has happened. I’m looking forward to seeing how they progress in singles and also in doubles.
Is it just me or does this seem like another pretty pointless publicity stunt from the WTA and ATP tours? Andy Murray and Venus Williams have a hit of tennis in the main street of Miami on top of cars to promote the tournament. Im sure it didnt cost the tours that much to hire cars and get the players to turnout, but Im sure the money can be better spent elsewhere!
I just think that the level of prizemoney on the lower level tours isnt up to scratch and this kind of makes tennis look like a sport just keeping the rich and top players entertained.
Venus and Serena Williams will be back playing World Team Tennis this year for the Washington Kastles.
Agnes Szavay (29) from Hungary has caused a bit of an upset this afternoon defeated Venus Williams in the third round of the French Open. Venus never really turned up for the match and by the time she got into the flow the match was over. The final score was 6-0 6-4.
