Venus Williams is a name to be reckoned with in the game of women’s tennis. Her dominance in the game is evidenced by the fact that she not only won multiple tournaments and titles, but also became the first African American to be ranked No. 1 in the world. Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam titles, four Olympic gold medals, thirteen women’s doubles trophies, and two mixed doubles wins since she was a child. Williams began his professional career when he was fourteen years old, and the rest is history. She honed her abilities and prowess in the game game after game in order to bring out the best in herself. Williams’ agility at the net, powerful hitting ability, and outstanding serve have made her a top-tier player, with the quickest serve struck by a woman in a main draw event. Times named her one of the ’30 Legends of Women’s Tennis: Past, Present, and Future’ for her extraordinary contribution to the sport of tennis. She’s also a Forbes Top 100 Celebrity. Williams is also an amazing businesswoman, in addition to being an ace tennis player.
Childhood and Adolescence
Venus Williams was born in Lynwood, California, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is the youngest of four sisters. Venus was the fourth kid in the family.
When young Williams was four years old, the family relocated to Compton. This change of scenery provided her and her younger sister, Serena Williams, with the opportunity to try their hand at tennis.
The Williams sisters’ ability to play the game improved dramatically under Rick Macci’s tutelage.
Venus Williams’ talent for the game was so great that at the age of eleven, she was ranked No. 1 among the under-12 players in South California. However, racial challenges and harsh comments from society caused young Williams to drop out of the academy.
Richard Williams then took on the task of self-teaching his daughters how to play the game and became their official coach.
Years of Growth
When Venus Williams was fourteen years old, she played her first official game. Despite losing the match, she was up a set and a service break at one point against then-World No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
Williams competed in three tournaments in 1995. Despite losing all three matches, she managed to beat World No. 18 Amy Frazier in the quarterfinals in Oakland.
In 1996, she repeated the feat, losing four times in the first round but making it to the third round in Los Angeles before losing to World No. 1 Steffi Graf.
Early Career Achievement
Williams received some good news in 1997, as she achieved success for the first time. Williams reached the quarterfinals of three of the five Tier I tournaments, earning her a spot in the Top 100.
Williams’ Grand Slam results in 1997 were uneven. While she lost in the first round of Wimbledon, she advanced to the second round of the French Open. She made it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
The US Open was the most successful of the three, with Williams reaching the finals and losing to Martina Hingis. Williams rose to 22nd in the ATP world rankings as a result of her remarkable performance.
Williams won her first singles title in the 1997 IGA Tennis Classic in Oklahoma City, defeating Joannette Kruger.
While she did not qualify for the finals of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, she went on to defeat then-World No. 1 Hingis in the Lipton International Players Championships final. With this, she moved up to tenth place in the ATP world rankings. Williams had a better Grand Slam performance in 1998 than she had in previous years, reaching the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam competitions. On July 27, 1998, her ability at the game earned her the World No. 5 position.
Williams won the mixed doubles event at the 1998 Grand Slam partnered Justin Gimelstob. While she won two titles, Serena Williams, her younger sister, won the other two, making the year the ‘Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam.’
Williams was defeated in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1999, losing to Davenport and Steffi Graf. Her performance at the US Open, on the other hand, was beneficial, as she advanced to the semi-finals before losing in three sets to Martina Hingis. In the French Open, she successfully extended her winning streak to 22 matches until falling to World No. 125 Barbara Schwartz in the fourth round.
Williams’ other tournament performances in 1999 were outstanding, as she defeated some of the game’s best players, including Novotna, Steffi Graf, Mary Pierce, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, and others. She was able to achieve the World No. 3 position by the end of the year as a result of this.
While Williams’ solo win totals were constantly increasing, her partnership with sister Serena had positive results, as the two won women’s doubles titles at the French Open and the US Open in 1999. This was only the beginning, as they went on to win numerous other awards in the category.
The Dominance Period
Williams’ dominance of the game began in the year 2000. Despite missing the first several months of the year owing to a wrist injury, she managed to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Williams went on to win 35 singles matches in a row and six tournaments in a row. In the same year, she won her maiden Grand Slam singles title, defeating Martina Hingis to win Wimbledon. The Williams sisters then teamed together at the event to win the women’s doubles title.
Williams’ victory at the US Open was notable because she defeated the world’s top two players at the time, Hingis and Davenport. Williams won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, defeating Sanchez Vicario in the quarterfinals, Seles in the semi-finals, and Elena Dementieva in the final. Women’s doubles gold was also won by the Williams sisters at the Olympics.
Williams won six singles titles and was ranked No. 3 in the world during the excellently designed year. In terms of success, Venus Williams had a mirror effect in 2001. She not only made it to the Australian Open semi-finals, but the sisters also won the year’s doubles title, completing the duo’s Career Grand Slam in women’s doubles.
Her results in Tier II competitions were outstanding. In the semi-finals, she defeated Hingis, and in the final, she defeated World No. 4 Jennifer Capriati. Williams achieved a career high rating of World No. 2 as a result of this victory.
Williams successfully defended her title at both the US Open and Wimbledon in 2001, becoming only the sixth woman in history to win both games in consecutive years. She faced Serena in the US Open final, which was the first time two sisters competed in a Grand Slam singles final in the open era.
She was ranked No. 1 in the world on February 25, 2002. She was the first African-American woman to hold the prestigious office, although only holding it for only three weeks.
In the 2002 Grand Slams, Williams was defeated by Monica Seles in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She reached the finals of the French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon, but was defeated each time by Serena Williams, who quickly displaced Venus as the World No. 1.
The Williams sisters’ period of dominance reached a new high when they won their fifth Grand Slam women’s doubles title together at Wimbledon. Williams concluded the year as the World No. 2 after winning seven championships.
Setbacks & Injuries
Williams began 2003 on a high note, qualifying for the Australian Open final for the first time in her career. Despite poor results at the French Open, she won at Wimbledon, defeating Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters before losing in the finals to her sister. The two went on to win their sixth Grand Slam title in women’s doubles.
Venus Williams’ winning streak came to an end between 2003 and 2006 as she battled ailments. Despite winning a few matches, Williams was unable to win a championship because of injuries. The year 2005 yielded a mixed bag of results. While she lost in the third round of the French Open, the fourth round of the Australian Open, and the fourth round of the US Open, she won Wimbledon in the finals by overcoming Davenport. She won her fifth Grand Slam singles title and her third Wimbledon title with this victory. Williams was also able to return to the top ten rankings as a result of his victory.
Williams’ injury worsened in 2006, and she was unable to capitalize on her winning streak while being one of the most potential contenders for the titles. Williams concluded the season as the World No. 46 as a result of this.
In the second inning
Venus Williams had a good second innings in her professional career. Despite missing out on the 2007 Australian Open, she won Wimbledon, making her the fourth woman in the open era to win the tournament at least four times.
She reached the semi-finals of the US Open, when she was defeated by Justine Henin. Williams was ranked No. 8 in the world at the end of the year, with three titles and an 83 percent winning percentage.
Her Grand Slam performance in 2008 was outstanding. She reached the quarterfinals of both the Australian and US Opens, but she successfully defended her Wimbledon championship, bringing her Grand Slam singles titles to seven and Wimbledon titles to five.
The Williams sisters won their second gold medal in women’s doubles in the Beijing Olympics, following their victory at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
The next year, in 2009, she finished sixth in singles and third in doubles with Serena Williams.
Williams’ game prowess, stroke agility, and world-class service all contributed to her return to the World No. 2 position in 2010, only behind her sister Serena. While she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open singles, the Williams sisters won another match in women’s doubles.
She went past the third round of the 2010 French Open, but lost in the 16th round to Nadia Petrova. The sisters then used their winning formula to win their fourth Grand Slam women’s doubles title in a row. Williams reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, but was unable to advance due to a worsening knee condition. Despite this, she entered the US Open as the third seed and advanced to the fourth round after winning three matches.
William’s attempt to overcome her ailments in 2011 failed terribly, and she suffered injuries and sickness as a result. She retired from the Australian Open in the third round due to injury, did not compete in the French Open, lost in the fourth round of Wimbledon, and withdrew from the US Open in the second round due to sickness. Her rating plummeted from World No 2 to World No 102 as a result of her recurrent injuries and illnesses.
Williams did not participate in the Australian Open in 2012. She lost in straight sets to Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round of the French Open. She was eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon, and she was eliminated in the third round of the US Open.
While her singles performance was unsatisfactory, her performance in the women’s doubles with sister Serena yielded positive results, as the two went on to win their third gold medal at the Olympics.
Williams won her 44th career WTA championship and first in almost two and a half years in the 2012 BGL Luxembourg Open, bringing the year to a close on a high note. Her ranking climbed to No. 24 in the world as a result of this.
Achievements & Awards
Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, thirteen women’s doubles trophies, and two mixed doubles titles over her illustrious career.
She was named World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, as a result of her remarkable performance. She became the first African American in the Open Era to accomplish this achievement.
Williams has four Olympic gold medals to her credit: one in singles and three in doubles. She, together with her sister Serena, is the only female tennis player to have won more Olympic gold medals than any other.
In 1997, Williams was named WTA Newcomer of the Year. She also earned the September Olympic Committee Female Athlete award the same year. Williams was named WTA Player of the Year and WTA Doubles Team of the Year in 2000. The Sportswoman of the Year Award and the Extraordinary Achievement Award were given to her.
Williams took home the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete and the ESPY Award for Best Female Tennis.
Personal History and Legacy
Since 2007, Venus Williams has been dating professional golfer Hank Kuehne. They had a fantastic connection and had a common understanding. However, they broke up in 2010.
Williams is currently dating Elio Pis, a Cuban model. When the latter modeled for Williams’ fashion business, EleVen, the two first met.
Williams’ injuries and wounds grew exponentially over time. She was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune condition in which immune cells target the salivary and tear glands, only in 2011.
Williams is currently on a vegan diet, which helps to minimize inflammation and the disease’s energy-sapping symptoms by reducing calories, pesticides, and sweets.
Trivia
She has 44 career trophies under her belt, including seven Grand Slam triumphs and four Olympic gold medals. Since Helen Wilis Moody, she is the only woman to win a gold medal in both the singles and doubles events.
In 1997, she made her debut Grand Slam participation at the French Open. In the same year, she made history by being the first unseeded player to reach a Grand Slam final, when she beat Martina Hingis in the US Open final.
She became the first African-American woman to reach World No. 1 since the computer rankings began in 1975 in February 2002. In the same year, she and Serena became the first siblings to ever rank in the Top 2 at the same time. She has faced off against her sister 24 times, winning 10 of them. They competed in eight Grand Slam singles finals and thirteen Grand Slam women’s doubles finals against each other.
She was a trailblazer in establishing equal prize money for men and women at Wimbledon and the French Open. She was the first woman to benefit from the equalization of prize money, which was unusual at the time.
Aside from tennis, this ace athlete founded an interior design firm called ‘V Starr Interiors,’ of which she is the CEO, as well as her own fashion line called ‘EleVen.’ ‘Come to Win; on How Sports Can Help You Top Your Profession,’ is another book she co-authored.