Tennis champion Venus Williams said she endured nearly three decades of debilitating menstrual pain before learning that large uterine fibroids and adenomyosis were the cause. In an interview aired 3 July on NBC’s TODAY, the 45-year-old seven-time Grand Slam singles winner recalled vomiting, anaemia and lying on a Wimbledon locker-room floor in 2016 yet being told repeatedly by physicians that her symptoms were “normal” or merely “part of ageing.” Williams said doctors monitored the growths with ultrasounds but never linked them to her extreme bleeding and cramping, at one point suggesting a hysterectomy. After seeing a social-media post in 2024, she sought care at NYU Langone Health’s Center for Fibroid Care, where gynaecologist Taraneh Shirazian recommended and performed a myomectomy that removed the tumours while preserving her uterus. The procedure has eased the former world No. 1’s symptoms and, she said, restored her energy levels. Marking Fibroid Awareness Month, Williams urged women to “be their own advocates,” arguing that her experience shows how even high-profile patients can face years of misdiagnosis for common conditions that affect up to 80 percent of Black women before age 50.