Serena Williams says she's reaching out to the family of the victim in the Steubenville rape case after the tennis star was quoted in a Rolling Stone article saying "she shouldn't have put herself in that position."

"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," Williams said in a statement released through her agent Wednesday. "What was written - what I supposedly said - is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame."

The comment was made in one paragraph of a lengthy story posted online on Tuesday about Williams, a 16-time Grand Slam title winner who is ranked No 1 heading into Wimbledon.