Virtually two days ago it was announced that Serena Williams is planning to end her eight-month foot injury lay-off and now there's a major shift in the situation. No, Serena is not yet again prolonging her foot recovery time, the news is that she had to be hospitalized Monday because of a blood clot on her lungs. What?

The 13-time Grand Slam champion, who won the 2010 Wimbledon title and has since gone missing from the tennis scene, "underwent emergency treatment for a hematoma suffered as a result of treatment for a more critical situation," as her spokeswomen Nicole Chabot said. Read more »

Serena Williams is now walking without her shiny cast and the latest news is that she is planning to be back for Roland Garros. Maybe this is yet another false alarm for tennis fans, but time will tell.

I have been wearing it [the cast] for so many months, so I am so happy. My foot feels good and I’m starting to train right away, and I intend to be back for the French Open. And I have so missed wearing heels, I can’t wait to get them back on! I just try to stay positive.

Serena had been scheduled to play her first tennis match in eight months on March 8th, 2011. The occasion was the Nike Clash of Champions, also featuring Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. However, Serena has recently announced she will not be able to play, but will show up, in the role of a referee. Her replacement will be Victoria Azarenka.

The last piece of news on Serena's official website is still her withdrawal from the January's Hopman Cup, dating back to November 24, 2010. (source: WTA Tour Insights, photo via WTA Tour)

Serena Williams is warming us up, tweeting about how she misses tennis and how she will be back soon. To back up her ever-present love of tennis, Serena reminded us of a truly wonderful story about her first tennis tournament, which is retold in detail in her autobiography. You can read more about it here, in my review.

On March 8th Serena is scheduled to be play her first tennis match since July 2010 and Wimbledon. It will be an exhibition event, called the Nike Clash of Champions, with Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Just a thought: This has nothing to do with Serena, but I see she is using some service called TwitLonger, which enables you to share longer tweets. Isn't that opposing the whole point of Twitter and its 140 characters?

Serena Williams has been away from the courts for too long, and now the word is out that her foot injury sustained at a German restaurant has been worsened by a serious bone infection (osteomyelitis). What? Supposedly, Serena’s foot is not responding to intravenous antibiotics such as Vancomycin, considered as a last resort, and Serena is now losing weight and growing weaker. Not to mention that rumors are even saying Serena may lose her leg.

All this is so shocking that I absolutely don't believe it's true. However, if this is just a rumor, the people who launched it are very irresponsible.

Serena's tweet of January 23rd about her sore throat ("My throat feels raw. every time I take a sip of sumthin it feels like i just swallowed 20,000 mini knives. its 5:10am…") has been taken as a proof of the side effects of the antibiotics by some sources: "IV Vancomycin’s serious side effects include a persistent sore throat and swelling of the tongue and throat". No other health issues have been mentioned by Serena on her Twitter ever since.

Serena has significantly dropped in the rankings following her skipping of the Australian Open, and is now ranked 12th.

Serena Williams has been dating rapper Common for about three years, and the word is out that the couple got engaged over the holidays. Serena’s friend Selita Ebanks was asked on "The Wendy Williams Show" Monday about the rumors, and she didn’t want to reveal anything, thus not denying rumors either.

"I’m the best friend, and I wouldn’t be the best friend if I told you, so I don’t know," Selita played coy.

Some sources are saying that Serena and Common are not engaged, but that their relationship seems to have became more serious since they reunited after a short split last summer. If the engagement rumors turn out to be true, and the couple gets married, Serena will become a stepmother to Common's 13-year-old daughter. (sources: Bet Network, WTA Tour Insights, photo: paltapan_22)