Venus Clarifies Her "Hiatus" From Tennis

Thanks to a dedicated reader of this blog and a fellow Venus Williams fan I was alerted to this statement that Venus made on her Eleven By Venus blog over the weekend which clarifies her reported "indefinite hiatus from tennis."

An excerpt:

The speculation that arose last week is an unfortunate example of one writer incorrectly spinning a story that took on a life of its own. I agreed to visit the Amelia Island tournament (Bausch and Lomb Championships) last week after my withdrawal to offer my support to the tournament and the WTA(and will do the same in Charleston this week). During my visit, I met with sponsors and fans and participated in a media session. From the media session somehow one of the writers translated my statement that I intend to return to competitive play next month for the French Open as an “indefinite leave of absence”??? While it was great to hear from a lot of old friends that wanted to make sure I was ok, this headline was wrong. To be very clear, I am healthy, I am not on an indefinite leave of absence and I will be back on Tour next month beginning in Rome (May 12).

Well, that's good to read.