Sports

Venus Williams – the six times Grand Slam champion – has decided to take a cooling off period for reasons unknown. “I’ve just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I’m working on that at the moment and I’m hoping to be back playing as soon as possible,” Williams said Tuesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships. “I’m not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport.”

Williams said last week she was dealing with a medical issue when she announced her withdrawal from the Bausch & Lomb tournament. She played last week in the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

Williams will not play for the United States in the Fed Cup semifinal against Russia on April 26-27, but did not rule out any other tournaments and said she still wants to play in the French Open beginning in late May. “Of course I want to be there (in France),” Williams said. “I don’t want to be at home watching on TV. Watching this week will be enough on TV, so hopefully not too many more weeks.”