Venus is unsure when she can play again

Venus Williams is unsure of when she will be able to play again and how much she will be able to compete. On Sunday, Williams played her first match since the U.S. Open, partnering Liezel Huber in a Fed Cup doubles victory (dead rubber) against Belarus. The 31-year-old Williams is contending with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease.

"I'm not sure what my plans are," Williams told reporters. "Honestly, I'm going to play next week in terms of going home and start training, really try to hone in on my singles game, see how I'm covering the court, that kind of thing. For me it's kind of week by week, just see what happens. I try not to put pressure on myself, even though I do. I mean, if I could, I would have played [the Australian Open]. But as soon as I can. I'm still fighting fatigue. I'm getting better. It just takes a while to kind of find the right medicines that work, to get stronger. Once you do have a chance to get on the court, it takes at least six weeks to build a nice baseline so you just don't get hurt."

Williams, who is currently ranked No. 133 in singles and no longer has a doubles ranking, says that her main focus will be to try and qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London. In order to automatically qualify for the Olympic singles, she needs to raise her ranking into the Top 48 by the end of Roland Garros. She also might ask for a wild card into doubles with her sister Serena, as they are the defending gold medal champions.

"The big push for me is the Olympics this year, so I can get back on the court and get my ranking up," Venus said. "If I'm healthy, I'm not worried about my ranking. I think I can hit the ball. It's just about my body cooperating. It's about being able to play matches in a row. Right now I'm not sure how much I can do with that, but we'll see....It's definitely a real-life experience for sure. My life is going to be different, but I'm glad to know what's wrong with me so I can get better."

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