Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who was formerly World No. 1, and now ranked World No. 36 as of July 2013 – she was dealing with a serious illness.

Williams was forced to take a break from her career because of the health issues for which she had no diagnosis. She claimed she had “mysterious” symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue and muscle pain.

She was eventually diagnosed in 2011 with an immune system illness called Sjogren’s syndrome – which was the reason for her withdrawal from the second-round match at the 2011 U.S. Open.

She went public with her illness and took seven months off until she could manage her disease.

Since then, she has made a change in her diet, removing all animal products and going vegan but admits that in times of weakness she is a “cheagan.” That’s Venus-talk for a cheating vegan.

On her website the 32-year-old American refers to this phase of her life as “Venus A.D.” — Venus After Diagnosis.

Apparently whatever she did, worked. She’s claimed she is fit and healthy and is starting her season with the Auckland WTA tournament.

Williams said ”the other day I dreamed I had a win and I woke up and realized I hadn’t even played a round. I hope to go round by round and at least get to the finals – that would be awesome.”

Williams, now 33 years old won her last final in Luxembourg in October 2012, and said she has been working hard during the off season.

”I feel like I’m coming into the season as fit and healthy as I have in many years, so for me that’s exciting and I have a positive outlook. My goal is to be like Serena Williams!”

Serena Williams is her sister, a raw vegan – who won the U.S. Open in 2013 – and the competition between them is legendary.

Image via YouTube