Historical Spotlight: Venus Williams
Tennis was my favorite sport to play in high school. In the 7th grade, I got the grand idea to learn how to play after watching the Australian Open and immediately fell in love. The sport has had a stereotype of being dominated by white Europeans and many Black women have been shut out due to staunch racism and elitism. Black players are labeled as argumentative and they often receive negative press from the media. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on Venus Williams and how she stamped her legacy as one of the greatest tennis players ever.
Venus was born on June 17, 1980 to her parents Richard Williams and Oracene Price in Lynwood, California. From a very early age, her dad had plans to give her the best training and opportunities for her future tennis career. He even went as far as moving the family to Compton to toughen up her and her sister Serena. They both were home-schooled and were raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
During her childhood, she would compete in national junior tennis tournaments but her dad thought it would be best to stop after she turned 11. He wanted to make sure her school work didn’t suffer and to also protect her from the racist parents of other players. At the time, she had a 63-0 record on the junior tour and was ranked number 1, but that didn’t stop people from disrespecting her.
After about eight years, the family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida so Venus could attend a prestigious tennis academy. Eventually her dad took over her training and she went pro on October 31, 1994 at only 14 years old. She played only one tournament in 1994, three in 1995, and five in 1996 before making her first major debut in 1997.
That year, she played in a total of 15 tournaments, won her first match against a player ranked in the top 10, and was ranked in the top 100 for the first time on April 4, 1997. Later that year, she made her Grand Slam debut in the French Open and reached the second round. She followed it up with a first round loss at Wimbledon, but battled back to lose in the quarterfinals at the US Open.
In her debut at the Australian Open in 1998, she beat Serena during their first professional match before losing in the quarterfinals. She earned her very first singles title just three weeks later in the National Indoor Championships. Her world ranking rose to her highest yet at number 10 on March 30 before it rose again to number 5 just four months later on July 27.
She reached at least the quarterfinals in every 1998 major tournament and earned her second and third singles titles. She won the first two Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments while Serena won the last two to complete a “Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam”. Venus, with Serena as her partner, also won her first two doubles victories of her career in Oklahoma City and Zurich.
In 1999, she won six singles titles and paired with her sister to win their very first Grand Slam doubles tournament during the French Open. On August 30, her ranking rose to number 3 before she won her second Grand Slam doubles title with Serena at the US Open. She also made her debut at the WTA Championships but lost in the semifinals.
After missing the first half of her 2000 season because of tendonitis in both wrists, she came back and went on an absolute tear. She won 35 consecutive singles matches and six tournaments, including her first major singles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open and a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Sydney.
In 2001, Venus and Serena completed a Career Golden Slam in doubles by winning the Australian Open title. Knee tendonitis caused her to pull out of her singles match against Serena at Indian Wells and, after the crowd booed both sisters, the pair boycotted the tournament for 14 years. She brushed it off to win the Key Biscayne open, defended her Wimbledon title, and won the US Open for the second consecutive year.
She was ranked number 1 for the first time in her career on February 25, 2002 and was the first Black American woman to ever be ranked that high. That same year, after meeting and losing to her sister in the French Open and Wimbledon finals, her number 1 ranking was passed to Serena. The two paired up at Wimbledon to win their fifth major doubles title. She finished the year ranked number two after winning seven tournaments.
After winning her sixth doubles Grand Slam title at the 2003 Australian Open, Venus started to struggle with injuries that kept her off the court. 2004 was much the same with her only winning one tournament. She battled back in 2005 to secure her third Wimbledon singles title, managed to beat her sister twice, and finished the year ranked number 10.
Early 2006, she suffered another wrist injury that disrupted her season and led to her ranking dropping to number 46. She stormed back in 2007 by securing two more singles tournaments and winning her fourth Wimbledon title. She won her fifth Wimbledon title just a year later by beating Serena in straight sets. The pair won another Grand Slam doubles title and Olympic gold medal together.
Venus won her 40th professional singles title in 2009 and became only the 12th player in the Open era to achieve it. She competed well and finished the year ranked number six in singles and number three in doubles with Serena. In 2010, she won her 43rd career title, breaking the record for the most among active female players. She also became the second player, behind her sister, to earn more than $26 million in career prize money. As a doubles team, Venus and Serena achieved the number one ranking on June 7, 2010.
In 2011, she suffered a hip muscle injury at the Australian Open, breaking her record of 250 consecutive Grand Slam matches and 294 consecutive career matches without retiring during competition. Later that year, she was diagnosed with Sjögren syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and muscle and joint pain.
She took some time off to focus on her health and returned in 2012, winning her fifth Wimbledon doubles title and her third gold medal in doubles at the London Olympics with Serena. She also won her 44th career title and finished the year ranked number 24.
2013 was the first time in her career that she missed Wimbledon because of a back injury, but in 2014, she became the seventh-oldest woman to win a WTA singles title. In 2015, she was ranked the 10th most popular player of the year and received the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award.
She won her 49th career title, 14th major doubles title with Serena, and broke the record for the most major appearances in 2016. During the Summer Olympics in Rio, she became one of only two female players to win a medal in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. She and Serena are the only tennis players in history with four Olympic gold medals. In 2018, she played her 1,000th match but her play suffered over the next few years from injuries.
In 2021, she appeared in her 90th Grand Slam tournament and won her 90th match at Wimbledon. Venus and Serena played their last doubles match together in 2022, leaving behind their legacy as a sister duo. 2023 was her 30th year on the WTA tour and she played her 100th career US Open match despite battling multiple injuries. She still receives wildcards to play and hasn’t officially retired, but she is selective on which tournaments she competes in.
Early in her career, Venus advocated that the French Open and Wimbledon should pay men and women equally through all rounds and was one of the driving forces for change. She is characterized as an aggressive player that racks up a lot of winners and unforced errors. She likes to approach the net and finish points quickly, and up to 2014, held the record for the fastest serve at 129 mph.
Off the court, she has an associate degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Indiana University East. She’s the chief executive officer of her interior design firm, V Starr Interiors, located in Jupiter, Florida.
She’s also launched her own fashion line called EleVen that debuted during the 2012 New York fashion week. She and Serena became minority owners of the Miami Dolphins in August 2009, making history as the first Black American women to have ownership in an NFL franchise.
Venus has inspired many young Black girls, like me, to believe that they can play tennis too. She’s also inspired the younger generation of phenomenal tennis stars like Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, and Taylor Townsend to step into their rightful place on the WTA Tour. Representation in a predominantly white space is so important and her legacy will forever live on.
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
