What Is Venus Williams's Illness? The Tennis Champion Revealed Her Medical Condition In 2011

Tennis fans are wondering about Venus Williams's illness after the champion won a tennis match against her much younger opponent on July 22. The 45-year-old Olympic gold medalist made history after she beat her 23-year-old competitor, Peyton Stearns, at the DC Open in Washington, D.C., according to the Associated Press.

The only other female tennis player to win a tour-level singles match as an older woman was Martina Navratilova, who beat her opponent in 2004 at the the of 47. Even more spectacular, Venus has been dealing with several illnesses, yet she showed that age ain't nothing but a number when it comes to greatness.

Venus Williams appeared on the Today show on July 3 and revealed that she'd recently had surgery for large fibroids on her uterus. The Olympic gold medalist said that doctors had dismissed her constant anemia, intense pain, and heavy periods for years. As a result, she was given multiple iron transfusions, all while being a professional athlete.

“I’m sharing now because I was outraged that I didn’t know this was possible," she said. "I didn’t know what was wrong with me."

"No one should have to go through this, she continued, adding that the doctors continually said that the heavy bleeding was normal and not a concern. “I thought maybe it was autoimmune anemia. It was what I was dealing with inside, which was fibroids and something else I had never heard of, which is adenomyosis.”

Adenomyosis is when the inner lining of the uterus grows into the uterine walls, causing pelvic pain, heavy bleeding, and irregular menstrual cycles.

The excruciating pain left her unable to eat and “laying on the floor in the locker room” while training for Wimbledon in 2016, where she and her sister, Serena, won the doubles title.

“We had a doubles final to play next, and I was just lying on the floor in the locker room, like, ‘It’s gonna pass. It’s gonna pass,’” she remembered. Thank God Serena got the doctor ... and I was able to get up and eat and start playing — bad luck for the opponents.”

Venus also has Sjögren’s syndrome.

Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune condition that can cause swollen joints and fatigue, according to Johns Hopkins. Venus revealed that she had the condition back in 2011, and she thought the pain from her fibroids was a result of Sjögren’s syndrome.

“I live with an autoimmune disease," she said. "So I thought maybe it was autoimmune anemia or something like that. But really, it was what I was dealing with inside, which was fibroids.”

Venus also revealed that her doctors never told her the fibroids were growing. “I didn’t know that they were really big,” she said. “I didn’t know that they were growing and growing and growing.”

She also said that one doctor joked that the fibroids were “natural birth control.”

“I had no idea what that meant. No one explained it to me,” she added. “Looking back, that’s not funny at all to take away someone’s opportunity to have a child or create a family if they want to. It’s not a joke.”

The tennis champ was also told to have a hysterectomy.

“I've never been so sad in my life," said Venus. "I had never been running to have kids, but I always wanted to have a choice, and to have that taken away is just frightening.”

Venus also noted that fibroids can grow as big as an orange.

She had a procedure called a myomectomy last year at NYU’s Langone Health Center for Fibroid Care. The surgical procedure removed the fibroids while keeping the tennis champion's uterus intact. Venus hopes that her story will help someone else with uterine fibroids being told everything is normal.

She said, “I’m very passionate about this at this point in time because I know that other people can live better than what I lived."