NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams' smile was tinged
with a bit of sadness when she said goodbye to the U.S. Open for 2011 —
certainly not on her terms and certainly not the way most people expected.
The two-time champion and one of the headliners of
the game for nearly 15 years withdrew Wednesday after revealing she had
recently been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that has
been sapping her energy all summer and made it too much for her to go on at
this, the season's last Grand Slam.
"I enjoyed playing my first match here, and
wish I could continue but right now I am unable to," she said in a
statement. "I am thankful I finally have a diagnosis and am now focused on
getting better and returning to the court soon."
As she departed, she gave a slight little wave
before folding into the back seat of a courtesy car. She did not answer
questions shouted at her by reporters.
But she knows the story as well as anyone: She is
31 and much closer to the end of her career than the beginning.
Her illness is not normally considered career
threatening — dry eyes and dry mouth are the most common symptoms and sometimes
fatigue and sore joints set in, as well.
It figures she'll make it back at some point,
though when and under what conditions remain the big questions.
Given her age, and the fact that her last major
victory came at Wimbledon in 2008, it's no longer unreasonable to wonder if
tennis fans have seen the seven-time major winner's best come and go.
And yet, almost every time she shows up to play,
they are reminded of why she can never be overlooked. It's been that way for
years.
"There was all this hype around these two
girls but they weren't playing tournaments, so everyone was talking about how
good they were, how good they weren't," said Andy Roddick, who grew up
around the Williams sisters, talking about the early days. "Everyone had
an opinion. Turns out they were pretty good."
Still are, but health problems won't let Venus show
it this time. And with the way this draw is shaping up, who knows how far she
might have gone?
Through the first three days, eight of the 32 seeds
have been eliminated.
That includes No. 5 Petra Kvitova and No. 6 Li Na —
the Wimbledon and French Open champions. The injured Kim Clijsters, this year's
Australian Open champion, never even made it to Flushing Meadows, making this
the first U.S. Open in 30 years without a reigning major titlist in the draw
come Round 2.
Even the players still left in the tournament felt
a bit of loss with one of the sport's biggest stars gone.
"I'm kind of sad and I'm disappointed that
Venus had to pull out," said Irina Falconi, a 21-year-old American who
defeated No. 14 Dominika Cibulkova. "But I hope it gets better, for what
it's worth."
This from the woman who would've played Williams in
the third round had Williams stayed and beaten No. 22 Sabine Lisicki. Instead,
Lisicki got the walkover.
"She's a tough girl, and I think she'll come
back. You know, it would be unfortunate if she couldn't," Lisicki said.
"Serena and Venus both are amazing players, and it's nice to have them in
the women's sport. I hope she comes back."
Williams' sister, Serena, is still in the draw and
looks very much like a favorite, even as a No. 28 seed. Serena plays her
second-round match Thursday against Michaella Kraijcek. Later on Arthur Ashe
Court, No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki meets Arantxa Rus.
Also playing Thursday are No. 1 Novak Djokovic and
No. 3 Roger Federer, along with the top American player, No. 8 Mardy Fish.
On Wednesday night, Roddick — who used to be
America's best on the men's side — needed 2 hours, 57 minutes to defeat
96th-ranked Michael Russell 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, yet another sign that the days
of Roddick dominating every time he walks on the court are gone.
"Well, every wins helps," said the No. 21
seed. "I'm certainly not fooling myself by thinking that was worthy of a
championship performance, by any means. But, you know, I don't know if I would
expect that."
After Roddick's match, No. 3 Maria Sharapova took
the court for a match that started just before 11 p.m. She rolled through
Anastasia Yakimova 6-1, 6-1 in 70 minutes.
"I'm usually in bed by 10:30, give or take,
11," Sharapova said after the match. "I'm usually in my tenth dream
by now."
Another winner was 19-year-old American Christina
McHale, 7-6 (2), 6-2 over eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, the runner-up
to Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2007.
"I think there's a lot of American players —
young American players — right now that are all kind of pushing each other. So
I think it's exciting," said McHale, who knocked off Wozniacki at a
hard-court tuneup tournament in Cincinnati in August.
Venus isn't young anymore, and now the wait begins
to see if she'll work her way back into the mix of top contenders.
"I don't think any of us know how serious it
is and hopefully it is not," Sharapova said. "I don't feel like it's
the end of her career, even though she's a bit older. She's one of the fittest
players on tour. And one of the most dangerous when she's playing well."
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Charles Krupa)
