Venus Williams shocked the tennis world when she abruptly withdrew from the US Open prior to her second round match against Sabine Lisicki. Media were first reporting the reason was an unspecified illness and soon it was defined as Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder which had been bothering the tennis champion for quite some time but has been diagnosed only recently, when more symptoms occurred.

I had swelling and numbness and fatigue, which was really debilitating. I just didn't have any energy. And it's not that you don't have energy — you just feel beat up.

The 31-year-old Williams said she "absolutely" plans to play tennis again, even though there is no cure for her health problem.

Sjogren's is something you live with your whole life. The good news for me is now I know what's happening after spending years not knowing… I feel like I can get better and move on.

(source: Australian Open, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Serena Williams needed just 49 minutes to win her second round match at the US Open against Michaella Krajicek with a 6-0 6-1 score. Should we even mention the statistics? Serena hit 10 aces and 25 winners to Krajicek's one ace and five winners.

In the first round Serena demolished Bojana Jovanovski 6-1 6-1, so she has lost only three games to reach the third round.

The 183th-ranked Krajicek, winner of three WTA titles which all came in 2006 or earlier, played Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2007 and had a career-high of No.30 in February 2008, but finished that season ranked No.219 due to injuries, which was her first non-Top 100 season since 2004.

Last year she reached the second round of a tournament just once, lost in the first round three times and in qualifying 13 times. Actually, the Dutch hadn't played in the main draw of a Grand Slam since 2008 – this was the first time in the last eight attempts that she managed to pass the qualifying rounds. This season she played the semifinals of Kuala Lumpur against Jelena Dokic. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Thanks to Tennis Served Fresh we have these shots of the extended version of Maria Sharapova's night Nike US Open outfit, i.e. the jacket accompanying the gray dress with yellow straps. The same yellow accent from the dress trims the placket and the collar of the jacket.

A stylish Head racquet bag is a perfect accessory as well.

Following her hard-fought win over Heather Watson in the first round, the third-seeded Sharapova had a much easier second round against Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-1 6-1. Yakimova did have five opportunities to break the former US Open champion, but converted none.

Did you know that Sharapova has a perfect 14-0 record in night matches at the US Open?

In the midst of talks about the golfer-tennis player relationship between Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy we’re having another one renewed. Ana Ivanovic's golfer ex-boyfriend Adam Scott was sitting in the players’ box during the former world No.1's victory over Ksenia Pervak in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.

When asked about the rekindled love Ivanovic said:

It was really nice to see him there. Now we're just happy, and that's all that matters.

Ivanovic was dating the Australian golfer for a year and a half from the beginning of 2009. Somewhere in September 2010 we were pretty sure they had broken up. Here are some past sightings of the couple: in Mallorca, in New York, at the Scottish Open, at Wimbledon 2009.

Ivanovic's previous love match was with ATP player Fernando Verdasco, which was excessively followed by the media.

The US Open match against Pervak was not significant only tennis-wise and romance-wise. Ivanovic dedicated the win to her grandfather Milovan who died over the weekend.

I'd like to thank our reader Bb for referring me to the story!

Venus Williams denied the US Open spectators a thrilling second round match against Sabine Lisicki by pulling out with an unspecified illness which was later defined as an autoimmune disease, more specifically - Sjogren’s Syndrome, which affects energy level, causes fatigue and joint pain.

I enjoyed playing my first match here and wish I could continue, but right now I am unable to. I am thankful I finally have a diagnosis and am now focused on getting better and returning to the court soon.

The final Grand Slam of the season was Williams' only fourth tournament of the season. On top of that, she has now left two of the four with a retirement.  Read more »