Venus Williams

Richard Williams moved his family to Compton when Venus was three, over his wife's objections, because he had studied how champions were made and decided a hard place would make his daughters harder. The plan preceded the talent. He home-schooled the girls and drilled them on public courts. When Venus was 11 the family moved to West Palm Beach so she and Serena could train at Rick Macci's academy, and that same year he stopped entering her in national junior tournaments — partly so she could do schoolwork, partly because of what he had heard other players' parents say about his daughters. She left the USTA junior circuit at 63 and 0, the top-ranked under-12 in Southern California. In 1995 he took the coaching back from Macci.

She turned professional in October 1994, at 14, and three years later reached the US Open final as an unseeded 17-year-old. Then seven singles majors, five of them at Wimbledon and two at the US Open, and 49 singles titles in all. Fourteen women's doubles majors with Serena, the pair never beaten in a major doubles final. Four Olympic golds, one in singles at Sydney and three in doubles with her sister. On February 25, 2002 she became the first African American woman ranked world No. 1 in the Open era, and only the second ever, after Althea Gibson.

In 2003 her half-sister Yetunde Price was shot dead in Compton, near the courts where the family had practiced. She was 31 and worked as the sisters' personal assistant. Then Venus's own body started going wrong in ways nobody could name. A wrist injury took most of 2006 and the 2007 Australian Open. On August 31, 2011, one match into the US Open, she withdrew and said she had been diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that brings fatigue and joint pain. Her ranking fell to 105. She turned vegan and kept entering tournaments. In July 2025 she said publicly that she had also lived for decades with adenomyosis and uterine fibroids, and that a lack of knowledge and support from doctors had delayed the diagnosis and the treatment.

The titles are no longer what leads the account. In 2005 she pressed Wimbledon and French Open officials privately for equal prize money, and on the eve of Wimbledon in 2006 she published an essay in The Times accusing the club of standing on the wrong side of history. Tony Blair backed her. Wimbledon gave way in February 2007, and the French Open followed a day later. She won Wimbledon that July and was paid what Roger Federer was paid. Being the older sister in the most examined rivalry in sport cuts both ways — it built the audience and it fixed her inside a comparison she loses on the numbers. The verdict on which mattered more is still open.

Venus Williams's life against the full span of the corpus — the fading end marks a life still in progress.

• V Starr Interiors company
  The interior design firm she founded and runs as chief executive 2002
• Wimbledon has sent me a message: I'm only a second-class champion article
  The Times essay that broke the deadlock over equal prize money 2006
• EleVen company
  Her apparel line, launched with the retailer Steve and Barry's 2007
• Minority ownership of the Miami Dolphins company
  Bought with Serena — the first African American women to own part of an NFL franchise 2009
• Come to Win book
  Written with Kelly E. Carter, and a top-five New York Times best seller 2010

• October 31, 1994 aged 14 Turns professional at 14 in Oakland She beat a former NCAA champion in the first round, then led world No. 2 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario by a set and a break before losing. It was the only tournament she played that year.
• September 1997 aged 17 Reaches the US Open final at 17, unseeded The first unseeded woman in the Open era to get that far. Martina Hingis beat her in straight sets.
• March 30, 1998 aged 17 Enters the world top 10 for the first time Her first tour title had come weeks earlier in Oklahoma City.
• July 8, 2000 aged 20 Wins Wimbledon for her first major singles title She beat the world No. 1 Martina Hingis, then Serena, then the defending champion Lindsay Davenport. The US Open followed in September.
• September 27, 2000 aged 20 Takes Olympic singles gold in Sydney She won the doubles gold with Serena at the same Games, inside a run of 35 straight singles wins.
• February 25, 2002 aged 21 Becomes the first African American woman ranked world No. 1 in the Open era The second of all time, after Althea Gibson.
• June 26, 2006 aged 26 Publishes an essay in The Times on the eve of Wimbledon She wrote that the club was on the wrong side of history for paying its women champions less. Tony Blair and members of Parliament backed her.
• July 7, 2007 aged 27 Wins a fourth Wimbledon and is paid what the men's champion is paid Wimbledon had conceded equal prize money in February and the French Open followed a day later. Seeded 23rd, she was the lowest-seeded champion the tournament had had.
• August 31, 2011 aged 31 Withdraws from the US Open after a Sjögren's syndrome diagnosis Her ranking fell to 105. She has played with the autoimmune disease ever since.

• Billie Jean King b. 1943
  Tennis champion and advocate for gender equality who defeated Bobby Riggs in the famous Battle of the Sexes. took up the fight of
• Althea Gibson 1927–2003
  Tennis champion who broke the sport's color barrier and became the first Black player to win major singles titles. second Black woman to No. 1, after
• Arthur Ashe 1943–1993
  Tennis champion and activist who broke racial barriers and advocated for education, civil rights, and AIDS awareness. won two US Opens in the stadium named for
• Serena Williams b. 1981
  Tennis champion with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, widely considered one of the greatest athletes ever. sister and unbeaten doubles partner