Venus Williams Biography
Richard Williams dreamed of raising tennis stars, and amazingly, he has raised two. Both Venus Williams and Serena Williams have reached the heights of tennis fame. They have both gone on to do very well on the tennis circuit. The older of the two, Venus, used her reputation to launch a successful interior design company.
Venus was born June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California. Winning tournaments by the age of 10, she was home-schooled by her mother. Originally, she was trained by Rick Macci, Jennifer Capriati’s one-time coach, but later it was her father Richard taking over coaching duties. Venus turned professional on October 31, 1994. Fortunately, her timing was perfect. After Venus turned pro, a rule was put into place that prohibited 14 year olds from competing in World Tennis Association (WTA) events. Venus played sparingly, however, concentrating more on her education.
Playing in a Grand Slam for her first time in 1997, Venus became the first unseeded female to make it to the U.S. Open Final. She lost to Martina Hingis, but it was clear that the young Venus was headed for big things in her tennis career. The next season she was able to beat Hingis in a tournament in Australia, and also beat Serena who was coming up in the ranks as well. That same year, Venus’ fast serve was clocked at 127.4 miles per hour, the fastest ever in WTA history. By the time that season was finished, she had won her first WTA single title, defeating Hingis again, as well as Anna Kournikova.
The following year, Venus was beaten for the first time by her sister Serena, who went on to a Grand Slam victory, achieving that goal before Venus. However, when the season ended, both of the Williams sisters were ranked in the top five in the world. In April the following year, following a slump in her career, father Richard announced a possible retirement for Venus, yet she persevered, and found herself winning her own Grand Slam title, beating Hingis and Serena once again. The next day the two sisters teamed up and won the Wimbledon doubles title. Later that year, she won another Grand Slam title, becoming the first woman to do so since Hingis in 1997. Later, in the Olympics, Venus broke records once again, becoming the first woman since 1924 to win gold medals in single and doubles tennis.
In 2001, Venus and Serena faced off against each other in a Grand Slam final, which was the first time sisters had done so since 1884. Venus went on to beat her younger sister. Health problems began to affect Venus after this, as she had a severe abdominal injury that she sought treatment for during the 2003 Wimbledon. Her career has been off and on since this and other injuries, as well as the death of her older sister, Yetunde Price, who was murdered while riding in a car with her boyfriend, the intended target.
There have been other ventures to fill Venus’ time during the off-season or when she is injured. She and Serena were the subjects of a 2005 reality TV show, Venus and Serena: For Real. A made-for-TV movie was also filmed about the sisters’ lives, Raising Tennis Aces: The Williams Story, with the family starring as themselves. Venus has studied interior design, and began her own interior design firm, V Starr Interiors. She has designed the set of the Tavis Smiley Show, as well as the athlete apartments for New York’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics games. Let us know of updates to the Venus Williams biography at editor@yuddy.com
|
