Venus Williams

📍Indian Wells, California, USA

“Venus Ebony Starr Williams was born in Lynwood, California, in June 1980, and grew up in Compton, in Los Angeles, the elder of the two youngest daughters of Richard Williams and Oracene Price. From the age of four she and her younger sister, Serena, were coached by their father on the public courts of East Compton Park, following a plan he had made for them before they were born. The courts were cracked, the neighbourhood was affected by gang violence, and the sisters trained together almost every day. By her early teens Venus was being described as one of the most exciting junior players in America. In 1991 the family moved to Florida so the sisters could train at a tennis academy, and Venus turned professional in 1994. She went on to win seven Grand Slam singles titles, including five at Wimbledon, and campaigned successfully for equal prize money there.”

Sources: Williams, V. & Williams, S. Venus & Serena: Serving from the Hip (2005), Houghton Mifflin; Williams, R. Black and White: The Way I See It (2014), Atria Books