‘Haven’t Figured if I’m in My Right Mind’ – Venus and Serena Williams’ Father Richard Once Gave a Bizarre Reason for Skipping a Grand Slam Event

The story of Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, will always be one of the most renowned in tennis history. Undoubtedly, ‘King Richard’ played a pivotal part in the development of the Williams Sisters, as they gained legendary status from a very early age.

In the past, (Richard) Williams talked about his main motive for bringing his daughters into tennis, i.e. to make million dollars. At that time, many people criticized Williams and his methods. In the 1997 US Open, Venus reached the final, where she faced the Swiss player Martina Hingis. Incidentally, Richard missed the finals and Venus lost the final pretty badly. Later, Richard gave a pretty weird reason for missing the final match.

Richard Williams talked about missing Venus’ final at the US Open 

In an interview in 1997, Williams said, “Naturally, any parent would want to be at a Grand Slam event. Just the name ‘Grand Slam’ carries so much weight. Any person in their right mind would want to be there. We haven’t figured if I’m in my right mind.”

Notably, many called Richard Williams manipulative and other things for not letting Venus play the Junior tournaments. Meanwhile, Richard also had a change of mindset regarding the success of his daughters and making financial gains from it.”When I first started, I started like most parents. I wanted to make a million dollars. I started for the wrong reason. That’s why I don’t feel good about it,” he further said. 

Read More: ‘That Caught Me Off Guard’- Venus and Serena Williams’ Coach Rick Macci Details One Big Regret From ‘King Richard’

Notably, we saw Richard in the stands multiple times whenever the Williams Sisters play, especially in a Grand Slam tournament.

People behind Venus and Serena Williams’ success as tennis players

In the early stages of Venus and Serena’s career, they had to face a lot of adversity. Without the help of their father, Richard Williams, and mother, Oracene Price, they would not have overcome those adversities in life. Apart from them, Hall of Famer coach Rick Macci also helped them in the early days of their career to develop their skill set and mindset on the tennis court.

Watch This Story: Venus and Serena Williams once openly revealed why everybody had a problem with their attitude 

Moreover, the Oscar-nominated movie, ‘King Richard’ portrayed the life story of all these three persons beautifully. In their career, Venus won 7 Grand Slam singles titles and Serena won 23 singles titles. Apart from they have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, along with three Olympic gold medals. Also, many consider Serena the greatest tennis player of all time for her tremendous career, which is still going on even after 2 decades later.