Black Sisters Are Tennis Phenomenon - By: Philip Nicosia

Black Americans have been prominent in basketball and boxing since time immemorial. What’s noteworthy in the past decade is that they have invaded other sports as well including golf and tennis which used to be dominated by the middle-class whites. And what’s praiseworthy, too, is that the Black Americans that have made a name for themselves in the world of tennis are not males but females and sisters.

We’re talking about none other than the Afro-American Williams sisters – Venus and Serena. Both ladies have proven that race is not a big issue in achieving their dreams in tennis. They are proud of being blacks and they will do anything to fulfill their goals of winning more tennis titles. In their several years of competing against white tennis players, Venus and Serena were able to establish their own style, self-confidence as well as their unique fashion sense. Even more boosting their confidence is the presence of their family members at most of their tournaments. For what they are and for what they have accomplished in their young life, the Williams sisters are indeed worthy of emulation not only by black women but by all people, in general.

Venus Williams is older by just a year than Serena. Both had earned the world number one rank in tennis with Venus having won five Grand Slam singles titles and Serena having won eight Grand Slam singles titles plus an Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles. Serena is said to be the best player of her time.

The sisters’ involvement in tennis is attributed to their father’s dream of having at least one daughter become a tennis superstar. It was also his way of letting them out of their neighborhood – the violent suburb of Compton in Los Angeles. Richard Williams had no regrets at all as her daughters never let him down. At a very young age of four and a half, Serena had already won her first tournament. Before she reached 10, she had won 46 of the 49 tournaments she entered. She even replaced Venus at one point as the number one ranked tennis player in the 12 and under category in California. At 14, she already became a professional player.

Venus, the older of the Williams sisters, also became professional at the age of 14. Together with Serena in 1999, they became the first sister team to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the 20th century at both the French Open and U.S. Open. The following year in 2000, the sisters won for the first time the Wimbledon doubles title. It was in the same year when Venus won the singles title at the Wimbledon and U.S. Open and two gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. It was in the year 2002 when Venus was declared the world’s top ranked player becoming the first African-American player to reach the spot since the tennis computer rankings started in 1975. She also placed 25th in the Tennis Magazine’s 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis era list. Apart from her career in tennis, Venus is also engaged in business and is actually the CEO of her interior design company “V Starr Interiors” in Florida.

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