Venus Williams is an American professional tennis player who is generally regarded as one of the all-time greats of women’s tennis and who, along with younger sister Serena Williams, is credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women’s professional tennis tour.
Let’s see some intriguing facts about her!
1. Venus Ebony Starr Williams was born June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California.
2. Her parents are Richard Williams and Oracene Price.
3. Her talents were apparent at the age of seven when a professional local tennis player named Tony Chesta spotted Venus Williams and quickly identified the talent.
4. The Williams family moved from Compton, California, to West Palm Beach, Florida, when she was ten, so that Venus and Serena could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who took notice of the sisters and who would provide additional coaching.
5. He did not always agree with Williams’ father but respected that “he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls”.
6. Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was eleven, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on schoolwork.
7. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of other players disparage the Williams sisters during tournaments.
At that time, Venus Williams held a 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among the under-12 players in Southern California.
8. In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci’s academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home.
9. Williams is a very powerful baseliner who also has an attacking all-court game.
10. Her game is well adapted to grass, where she feels most comfortable, which is reflected in her five Wimbledon singles titles.
11. She has developed into a skillful volleyer who uses her long “wingspan” (1.85m) and agility around the net.
12. Williams also has great court coverage and can hit winners from a defensive position.
13. Williams holds the record for fastest serve in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments: 2007 French Open second round, 2008 Wimbledon final, 2007 U.S. Open first round – 129 mph (208 km/h).
14. Venus Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994, at the age of fourteen.
15. Ranked World No. 11 in singles as of January 28, 2017, Williams has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks.
16. She first became the World No. 1 on February 25, 2002, the first African American woman to do so in the Open Era.
17. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her twelfth on the all-time list, more than any other active female player except sister Serena.
18. She has also won fourteen Grand Slam doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list.
19. Williams is one of four women to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles in the Open Era.
20. From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held.
21. She is one of only six women in the Open Era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches. As of the 2017 Australian Open, Williams extends her record as the all-time leader, male or female, in Grand Slams played, with 73.
22. Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women’s doubles, along with a silver medal in mixed doubles.
23. She and Serena have won more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player, male or female.
24. Venus also holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by a male or female player shared with Kathleen McKane Godfree and the only player to have won a medal at four separate Olympic Games.
25. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924.
26. With 49 singles titles, Williams is behind only Serena among active players on the WTA Tour.
27. Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest since January 1, 2000.
28. She is also one of only three active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, along with Serena and Russian Maria Sharapova.
29. By winning her 49th career singles title at the 2016 Taiwan Open, Williams became the 5th oldest WTA Tour titlist in the Open Era, at 35 years, 7 months and 28 days.
30. Williams has played against her sister in 27 professional matches since 1998, and won 11. T
31. They have played against each other in nine Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning seven times.
32. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they opposed each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, the first time sisters had so met in the Open Era.
33. On the other side, the pair have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles playing alongside each other and are undefeated in Grand Slam finals.
34. On December 13, 2007, Williams received her associate degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
35. In 2015, Williams received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Indiana University East.
36. Starting in 2011, she completed the degree through a reciprocal agreement between the university and the Women’s Tennis Association which allows athletes to play tennis professionally while studying online.
37. Her ultimate goal is to get an MBA in the near future.
38. Williams’ longtime boyfriend, pro golfer Hank Kuehne, was a visible presence from the time of Wimbledon 2007 until 2010, when Kuehne dated and (in May 2011) married his current wife, Andy.
39. Williams is now dating Cuban model Elio Pis whom she met when he modeled for her EleVen fashion line.
40. In 2003, at age 31, Yetunde Price, Venus and Serena Williams’ older sister, was shot dead in Compton, California, near the courts on which the sisters once practiced. Price was the Williams sisters’ personal assistant.
41. In 2011, Williams was forced to withdraw from the US Open before her second-round match, following a Sjögren’s syndrome diagnosis.
42. After the diagnosis, she adopted a vegan diet, as well as reducing her intake of calories and sugars.
43. Williams is a practicing Jehovah’s Witness and often thanks Jehovah God after winning matches.
44. Williams is the chief executive officer of her interior design firm V Starr Interiors located in Jupiter, Florida.
45. Her company designed the set of the Tavis Smiley Show on the Public Broadcasting Service, the Olympic athletes’ apartments as part of New York City’s failed bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, and residences and businesses in the Palm Beach, Florida area.
46. In June 2009, Williams was named 77th in the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities compiled by Forbes magazine.[76]
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