Just shortly prior to a scheduled 2nd round match with Sabine Lisicki, Venus Williams shocked all covering the event by withdrawing from the 2011 US Open. She showed up this morning to the National Tennis Center. Shortly afterwards, the news came of her withdrawal. Since has since left the grounds. Certainly, I wish all the best for Venus. There are many types of auto-immune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It is being reported that Venus has Sjögren’s syndrome. From Wikipedia:
The hallmark symptom of the disorder is a generalized dryness, typically involving dry mouth and dry eyes (part of what are known as sicca symptoms). In addition, Sjögren’s syndrome may cause skin, nose, and vaginal dryness, and may affect other organs of the body, including the kidneys, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas, peripheral nervous system (distal axonal sensorimotor neuropathy) and brain.
Sjögren’s syndrome is associated with increased levels of IL-1RA in CSF, an interleukin 1 antagonist, suggesting that there was first increased activity in the interleukin 1 system, then an auto-regulatory up-regulation of IL-RA in attempts to reduce the successful binding of Interleukin 1 to its receptors. It is likely that Interleukin 1 is the marker for fatigue, however IL-1RAincreases are observed in the CSF and is associated with increased fatigue through cytokine induced sickness behavior.[5] Patients with secondary Sjögren’s syndrome also often exhibit signs and symptoms of their primary rheumatic disorders, such as SLE, Rheumatoid Arthritis or Systemic Sclerosis.
An incomplete list can be found here: Wikipedia Auto-Immune Disease
Fairways and Forehands 
Pingback: 2011 US Open - Page 6 - LPGA Tour Forum