Serena Williams backtracks on rape statements

Serena Williams has apologized for comments she made to Rolling Stone magazine about the Steubenville rape case.

Williams posted a blog entry on her website saying that she was saddened by the events and that they were a "horrible tragedy."

Williams had been quoted earlier in a Rolling Stone interview:

"Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don't know. I'm not blaming the girl, but if you're a 16-year-old and you're drunk like that, your parents should teach you — don't take drinks from other people."

"She's 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn't remember? It could have been much worse.

"She's lucky. Obviously I don't know, maybe she wasn't a virgin, but she shouldn't have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that's different."

She claims she was misquoted.

On her blog she went on to say:

"I am currently reaching out to the girl’s family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was to blame."

The words incensed anti-rape and domestic violence groups.

She also came under fire on Twitter after the article was posted:

The top-ranked, 16-time Grand Slam title winner is in London this week training for the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which begins next week.

The Steubenville rape case shocked the US after news broke of two high school football players in the Ohio town assaulting a 16-year-old girl during a night of drunken partying in August 2012.