Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in both women's singles and doubles by the Women's Tennis Association. Williams has won 49 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including seven majors, as well as a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2008 WTA Tour Championships. She has also won 22 doubles titles, including 14 majors and three Olympic gold medals.
Along with her younger sister, Serena, Venus Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1994, she reached her first major final as a 17-year-old at the 1997 US Open. In both 2000 and 2001, Williams claimed the Wimbledon and US Open titles, as well as Olympic singles gold at the Sydney Olympics. She first reached the singles world No. 1 ranking on 25 February 2002, becoming the first African American woman to do so in the Open era, and the second of all time after Althea Gibson. Williams reached four consecutive major finals between 2002 and 2003, but lost each time to Serena. She then suffered from injuries, winning just one major title between 2003 and 2006. Williams returned to form starting in 2007, when she won Wimbledon. In 2010, she returned to the world No. 2 position in singles, but then suffered again from injuries. Starting in 2014, she gradually returned to form, culminating in two major final appearances in 2017 at the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships.
Along with her seven singles major titles, Williams has won 14 women's doubles major titles, all partnering Serena; the pair are unbeaten in major doubles finals. She became the world No. 1 in doubles for the first time on June 7, 2010, alongside Serena, after the pair completed a non-calendar-year Grand Slam at the French Open. The pair also won three Olympic gold medals in women's doubles, in 2000, 2008, and 2012, adding to Venus' singles gold in 2000 and her mixed doubles silver in 2016. Williams has also won two mixed doubles major titles for a combined total of 23 major titles.
The Williams sisters are credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Venus Williams was twice the season prize money leader, and ranks fourth in all-time career prize money winnings, having earned over US$42 million as of November 2025.
Early life
Williams was born on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. In addition to her full sister Serena, Venus has three maternal half-sisters—Yetunde, Lyndrea, and Isha Price—and at least seven paternal half-siblings. Venus and Serena were home-schooled by their father.When Venus was 3 years old, Richard moved the family to Compton, over the objections of his wife. Richard had studied sports success stories, and believed that the rough environment of Compton would toughen up Venus and Serena in preparation for their tennis careers.
The family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, when Venus was eleven, so that she and Serena could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who took notice of the sisters and who would provide additional coaching. 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 slowly and focus on schoolwork. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of other players disparage the Williams sisters during tournaments. At that time, 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. In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and took over all coaching.
Career
1994–96: Turned professional
Venus Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994, at the age of 14. In the first round of her first professional tournament, the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, she defeated former NCAA singles champion Shaun Stafford. In the second round, Williams was up a set and a service break against world No. 2, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, before losing the match. That was the only tournament Williams played in 1994.In 1995, Williams played three more events as a wildcard. She lost in the first round of tournaments in Los Angeles and Toronto, but reached the quarterfinals in Oakland, defeating No. 18 Amy Frazier in the second round, before losing to Magdalena Maleeva. Williams played five events in 1996, losing in the first round four times but reaching the third round in Los Angeles, before losing to No. 1 Steffi Graf.
1997: Major debut and first final
Williams played 15 tour events in 1997, including five Tier I tournaments. She reached the quarterfinals in three of the Tier I events—the State Farm Evert Cup in Compton, California, the European Indoor Championships in Zürich, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. At the State Farm Evert Cup in March, Williams defeated No. 9 Iva Majoli in the third round, marking her first win over a player ranked in the top 10. She then lost in the quarterfinals to No. 8 Lindsay Davenport. Williams' was first ranked in the top 100 on April 14, 1997. She made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, reaching the second round before losing to Nathalie Tauziat. She then lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Magdalena Grzybowska.During Williams' debut at the 1997 US Open, she collided with Irina Spîrlea in a semifinal match. Sports Illustrated claimed that Spîrlea intentionally "bumped" Williams. After Williams won the match, her father Richard accused Spîrlea of racism. Williams lost to Martina Hingis in the final.
1998: First WTA Tour singles title and top 5, first major doubles titles
In her debut at the Australian Open, Williams defeated her younger sister Serena in the second round, which was the sisters' first professional meeting. Williams eventually lost in the quarterfinals to No. 3 Davenport.Three weeks later, Williams defeated Davenport, now No. 2, in the semifinals of the Cellular South Cup in Oklahoma City. Williams then won against Joannette Kruger in the final, earning the first singles title of her career. In her first Tier I event of the year, Williams lost in the semifinals of the State Farm Evert Cup to No. 1 Hingis. The following week, Williams won the Tier I Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida. On March 30, 1998, she achieved her highest world ranking yet, at No. 10.
Williams played only one tournament on clay before the 1998 French Open. At the Italian Open in Rome, she defeated her sister in the quarterfinals and Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals, before losing to No. 1 Hingis in the final. Williams lost again to Hingis in the quarterfinals of the French Open, and was defeated by No. 3 Jana Novotná in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. On July 27, 1998, Williams' ranking rose to world No. 5.
Williams played three tournaments during the North American 1998 summer hardcourt season. She reached her fifth final of the year at the Stanford Classic in California, defeating No. 6 Monica Seles in the semifinals before losing to No. 1 Davenport. Patellar tendonitis in her left knee caused her to retire from her quarterfinal match in San Diego while trailing Mary Pierce in the third set. At the US Open, Williams defeated fourth-seeded Sánchez Vicario in the quarterfinals before losing to second seeded and eventual champion Davenport in the semifinals. 1998 was the first year that Williams reached at least the quarterfinals of all majors.
Williams played four tournaments in the remainder of 1998. She won her third title of the year at the Grand Slam Cup in Munich in September, defeating No. 9 Patty Schnyder in the final. She lost in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt, before losing in the final of the Tier I Swisscom Challenge in Zürich to No. 1 Davenport and the semifinals of the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow to Pierce. She had earned enough points during the year to participate in the year-ending WTA Tour Championships but withdrew from the tournament because of tendonitis in her knee. She finished the year ranked No. 5.
In 1998, Williams teamed with Justin Gimelstob to win the mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her sister Serena Williams won the other two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles that year, completing a "Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam". Williams won the first two women's doubles titles of her career, in Oklahoma City and Zürich. Both titles came with her sister, becoming only the third pair of sisters to win a WTA tour doubles title.
1999: Three Tier I titles
Williams started the 1999 season in Australia, where she lost to No. 10 Steffi Graf in the quarterfinals of the Sydney International and to No. 1 Davenport in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. However, she rebounded at the Faber Grand Prix in Hanover, defeating Graf for the first time in the semifinals before losing the final to No. 3 Novotná. Williams then successfully defended her titles in both Oklahoma City and Key Biscayne. The Key Biscayne tournament marked the first time a pair of sisters faced off in a final on the WTA Tour.Williams lost her first match at the Amelia Island Championships in Florida. Three weeks later, however, she won her first title on clay at the WTA Hamburg, defeating Mary Pierce in the final. Williams then won the Tier I Italian Open in Rome, defeating No. 1 Hingis in the semifinals and No. 8 Pierce in the final. At the French Open, she extended her winning streak to 22 matches before losing in the fourth round to No. 125, Barbara Schwartz. Williams teamed with Serena Williams to win the women's doubles title at this event, the first Grand Slam title the pair won together.
At Wimbledon, Williams reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year, losing to eventual runner-up Graf.
Williams rebounded in the summer when she won two Fed Cup matches against Italy and lost in the final of the Stanford Classic to No. 1 Davenport. One week later, Williams defeated Davenport in the semifinals of the San Diego Classic, before losing to No. 2 Hingis in the final. In her last tournament before the US Open, Williams won the New Haven Open in Connecticut, defeating No. 5 Seles in the semifinals and Davenport in the final. On August 30, 1999, her world ranking reached third for the first time. Seeded third at the 1999 US Open, Williams lost in the semifinals to No. 1 Hingis in three sets. However, she teamed with singles champion Serena Williams at this event to win their second Grand Slam women's doubles title.
Williams contributed to the victory of the USA team over Russia in the Fed Cup final, winning one singles rubber before joining her sister to win the doubles rubber. At the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, Williams defeated Hingis in the semifinals before losing to her sister Serena for the first time in the final. Williams won her sixth title of the year at the Tier I event in Zurich, defeating No. 1 Hingis in the final. Four weeks later, she lost to Davenport in the semifinals of the tournament in Philadelphia. Making her debut at the year-ending WTA Championships, Williams lost to Hingis in the semifinals. She finished the year ranked No. 3.