Concern over the health of Venus Williams
Some of these quotes are from the interview, which I already published a copy of, but it seems more info is emerging on exactly what is going on with Venus.
Scenes in the corridors under Flushing Meadows’ Arthur Ashe stadium were even more alarming an hour after the 7-6 6-4 defeat. Venus cut a frail figure as she leaned on her boyfriend, PGA Tour golfer Hank Kuehne, and hobbled back to the sanctuary of the locker room.
Price stood in attendance, her face racked with maternal concern as she revealed that her daughter had been diagnosed with anaemia when she began to experience dizzy spells during a tournament in San Diego three weeks after her Wimbledon victory.
Rather than allowing Venus to return home to Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, Price is insisting on an immediate series of extensive medical tests to be carried out at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
“Today I guess the anaemia came back,” said Price. “Venus feels like the ground is moving beneath her feet. Things aren’t right and we have to find out what’s wrong.”
Viruses have been virulent in tennis locker rooms this summer. Marion Bartoli, the young Frenchwoman whom Venus beat in the Wimbledon final, was the first to suffer.
Since then Daniela Hantuchova and Jelena Jankovic have been affected. Nicole Vaidisova was sidelined for six weeks with glandular fever, and in this US Open men’s seeds Richard Gasquet and Tomas Berdych were forced to withdraw, complaining of illness.
The problems for the 12th-seeded Venus seem more serious, although she was full of praise for Henin, who beat her for the first time since 2001. Difficult though it is to comprehend, the 27-year-old Venus admitted to suffering throughout her impressive win over third-seeded Jankovic two days earlier, when she recovered from losing the first set.
“I’m not sure what’s wrong with me,” she said dolefully in a wavering voice that could not have been more different from the fierce persona she likes to portray on court. “I don’t feel the way I would feel if I had just played awfully and given it away. I feel like I was fighting some circumstances that I couldn’t conquer.
“I didn’t feel 100% at Wimbledon, but it’s definitely all about desire and will. I really wanted it there and I wanted it here too, but I fell short. I’m disappointed, obviously. I feel like I should have found a way, despite everything.”
As well as experiencing dizziness, Venus reported feelings of nausea and a general lack of energy. Although the temperatures and humidity in New York have been unseasonably high for mid-September, she did not blame the weather and pointed out that she prepares in the fierce heat of Florida. She could not remember what the trainer said to her courtside. “I was like in a zone. I was just hoping she had a magic pill. She gave me some jelly beans. I tried to eat them, but I was still feeling dizzy. It hasn’t been as much fun playing under these circumstances, because when you don’t feel good, it’s not fun. And I just want to feel good.” Although Venus has been a more consistent and mature competitor than her younger sister Serena, she has regularly suffered long absences because of injury.
Times Online
Anemia is often a symptom of an underlying problem - sometimes something as simple as diet, but it can be an indicator of many conditions that are more serious.