Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 5 in singles and World No. 5 in doubles. Considered to be one of the greatest women's tennis players of all time, she has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to achieve the feat.
Williams is the reigning champion in women's doubles at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all time list and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams: seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her with four other women for twelfth on the all-time list. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth on the all-time list. She is one of only three women in the Open Era to have won 5 Wimbledon titles. Her dominance on the grass has earned her the title "The Queen of Wimbledon". From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships through the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only 5 women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw grand slam matches. In 2010 Yahoo sports ranked Venus as the 8th greatest female tennis player of all time.
Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles. She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. 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. She holds the record for the fastest serve by a woman in professional tennis; a record speed of 130 mph (210 km/h).
With 43 career singles titles, Williams along with Justine Henin leads active players on the WTA Tour and is tied for 10th overall in all-time titles.[citation needed] Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final, remains the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000.
Venus has played her sister Serena in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together. .
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Playing style
* 3 Professional career
o 3.1 1994–96: Professional debut
o 3.2 1997–99: Early success
o 3.3 2000–02: Williams sisters domination
o 3.4 2003–06: Injuries and losses
o 3.5 2007–09: Return to Form
o 3.6 2010: Return to top 2 despite injuries
o 3.7 Sister Serena Williams
* 4 Fight for equal prize money
* 5 Personal life
o 5.1 Entrepreneur
* 6 Recognition
* 7 Equipment
* 8 Career statistics
* 9 Records and achievements
* 10 Awards
* 11 Grand Slam singles performance timeline
* 12 Grand Slam doubles performance timeline
* 13 See also
* 14 References
* 15 External links
[edit] Early life
Williams was born in Lynwood, California to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is of African American heritage and is the second youngest of Oracene's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Lyndrea and Isha Price, and younger sister and current World No. 1 tennis player Serena Williams. Her mother raised her five daughters as members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group.
Williams's family moved from Compton, California to West Palm Beach when she was ten so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters. He did not always agree with Williams's father but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". 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 school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of white players talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under 12 players in Southern California. In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home
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Williams is the reigning champion in women's doubles at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all time list and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams: seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her with four other women for twelfth on the all-time list. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth on the all-time list. She is one of only three women in the Open Era to have won 5 Wimbledon titles. Her dominance on the grass has earned her the title "The Queen of Wimbledon". From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships through the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only 5 women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw grand slam matches. In 2010 Yahoo sports ranked Venus as the 8th greatest female tennis player of all time.
Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles. She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. 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. She holds the record for the fastest serve by a woman in professional tennis; a record speed of 130 mph (210 km/h).
With 43 career singles titles, Williams along with Justine Henin leads active players on the WTA Tour and is tied for 10th overall in all-time titles.[citation needed] Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final, remains the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000.
Venus has played her sister Serena in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together. .
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Playing style
* 3 Professional career
o 3.1 1994–96: Professional debut
o 3.2 1997–99: Early success
o 3.3 2000–02: Williams sisters domination
o 3.4 2003–06: Injuries and losses
o 3.5 2007–09: Return to Form
o 3.6 2010: Return to top 2 despite injuries
o 3.7 Sister Serena Williams
* 4 Fight for equal prize money
* 5 Personal life
o 5.1 Entrepreneur
* 6 Recognition
* 7 Equipment
* 8 Career statistics
* 9 Records and achievements
* 10 Awards
* 11 Grand Slam singles performance timeline
* 12 Grand Slam doubles performance timeline
* 13 See also
* 14 References
* 15 External links
[edit] Early life
Williams was born in Lynwood, California to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is of African American heritage and is the second youngest of Oracene's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Lyndrea and Isha Price, and younger sister and current World No. 1 tennis player Serena Williams. Her mother raised her five daughters as members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group.
Williams's family moved from Compton, California to West Palm Beach when she was ten so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters. He did not always agree with Williams's father but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". 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 school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of white players talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under 12 players in Southern California. In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) href="http://celebritycellphonenumber.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Venus-Williams.jpg">
venus williams
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venus williams
venus williams