Venus Williams withdraws from the U.S. Open

Two-time champion Venus Williams of the USA has withdrawn from the U.S. Open due to an illness.

Williams was scheduled to play 22nd-seeded Sabine Lisicki in the 2nd round.

In a statement afterward, she said: “I have been recently diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease which is an ongoing medical condition that affects my energy level and causes fatigue and joint pain.”

The 31-year-old 36th ranked Williams pulled out of two hard-court tuneup tournaments this summer because of a virus. In her first match in two months, Williams beat 91 ranked Vesna Dolonts of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in round one at Flushing Meadows on Monday.

Ivanovic upset by Cetkovska in round three

No. 18 seed, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, was eliminated from Wimbledon in round three by No. 81, Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, by a surprising score of 6-2, 7-6(0).

The only other time these two have met, Ivanovic won easily in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 at the French Open in 2008. That makes this an even more disappointing loss for the struggling Ivanovic. Just when it seems her game might be coming back together, she lets it slip away again.

Lisicki leaves French Open on stretcher

German qualifier, Sabine Lisicki, left the French Open Wednesday on a stretcher after being overcome by dizziness and muscle cramps following a second round 2 1/2 hour loss to Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

There were some apparent problems as the 21-year-old Lisicki had been examined by a trainer at least twice during third-set changeovers, even having her blood pressure checked.

When the matched ended, Lisicki didn’t go up to the net to shake hands. Instead she crouched down on the court. Zvonareva walked around the net and checked on Lisicki, putting a hand on her shoulder. A sobbing Lisicki then lay down on a towel placed on the red clay, and a trainer massaged her back until the stretcher arrived.

Clijsters Withdraws from French Open

Kim Clijsters of Belgium has officially withdrawn as of Friday from the upcoming French Open because of a foot injury suffered during Fed Cup play last month. Though she has resumed hitting, despite her efforts to recover in time for the major tournament, the injury hasn’t fully healed and she has opted to skip the competition.

A CT scan today revealed the injury was healing, but fluid is still building up around her ankle and she has opted to miss the second grand slam of the year and end her clay-court season.

Can the WTA solve the injury plague?

Injuries have long been a part of the sports scene. Lately, however, injuries seem to be a plague on both the women’s and men’s side of the tennis court.

The WTA tried to address that problem last year, when after years of debate and struggle, the season was shortened by two weeks – that is, the offseason was shortened from seven to nine weeks before they had to start up again in 2010. The WTA also reduced the number of required events for the top players. These two changes were designed to do two things: 1) keep the biggest stars from getting injured, and 2) get them to face off against each other more often.