Venus+Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams was born to Richard and Oracene Williams on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood California. She spent most of her childhood in Compton. At the age of four, Venus bagan playing tennis under the strict training of her father. Venus' mother was a nurse while her father was an American tennis coach and security-business owner who taught the sport to all five of his daughters in their high-crime area. Venus was the fourth of her sisters Serena Williams, Lyndrea Price, Isha Price, and Yetunde Price who was murdered in September of 2003 as a result of gang violence in Compton. Venus and younger sister Serena, however, were the only ones to show promise in tennis careers.

At the age of ten Venus played for "12-and-under girls" championship for southern California and was ranked the number one player in her division. This ranking was later inherited by her younger sister Serena. Her father, however, limited the number of tournaments she participated in because he felt that a teenage tennis star would quickly fade without recognition. Venus learned a lot about the sport by watching tennis matches on television. She studies footwork and techniques that she applied to her own game. In the early 1990s Venus and her family moved to Florida so that she and her sister Serena could receive more advanced coaching. There they attended Rick Macci's Tennis Academy where they practiced six hours a day, six days a week, for four years. Venus turned professional at 14 in 1994. She continued to play in few tournaments a year while being home-schooled by her mother. By the time she was 7, she had the attention of tennis greats John McEnroe and Pete Sampras, both of whom encouraged her to continue to pursue the game. Before Venus was even a teenager, her game was so strong that she won 63 consecutive matches without a single loss. Word of her talent reached the media, and in the summer of 1991 both __Sports Illustrated__ and //Tennis// ran stories about the amazing tennis "prodigy." All the publicity was accompanied by growing criticism of Richard Williams' focus on making Venus into a tennis star with little regard for giving her a normal childhood. Venus was also faced with racial discrimination. Tennis was for years regarded as a white person's sport. The Williams sisters were not openly accepted into the field. They were forced to prove themselves more than any white tennis players would have to. This only pushed them to work harder and earn their place among the best of players.

Venus began playing tennis professionally in 1994. Venus signed a five-year, $12 million contract with Reebok in 1995. At the age of 17 she played for a tournament, for the first time. She made it to the finals losing against Martina Hingis. She won her first professional singles title in 1998. In April of the same year she revenged her loss to Hingis by winning the Lipton Championships. In 1999, she beat her sister Serena in the Lipton final to defend her title. Venus won the singles title at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The Williams sisters also won the Wimbledon doubles title for the first time. Venus successfully defended her Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in 2001. The Williams sisters won the Wimbledon doubles title for the second time in 2002. Serena, however, got her revenge in 2002 defeating Venus three consecutive times to capture the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In 2006, Venus' ranking fell after injury restricted her to just six events. However in 2007, she recieved the award again for the fourth time. Venus is currently ranked number 5 in the world after winning the high-profile Dubai Tennis Championships with a victory over Virginie Razzano for her 40th career WTA singles title.

Venus Williams is currently engaged to her long-time boyfriend pro golfer, Hank Kuehne. She also was very interested in fashion. On December 13, 2007, Venus received her associate degree in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale with honors and a 3.5 GPA. She is the chief executive officer of her interior design firm "V Starr Interiors" located in Jupiter, Florida. In 2007, Venus partnered with retailer Steve & Barry's to launch her own fashion line "EleVen." She was very happy to be able to use her degree to create clothing and footwear that she, and others, are able to wear "on and off the court." In 2001, Venus was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by the Ladies Home Journal.

Venus Williams - Compton Childhood

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