‘Hurt Me So Deep in My Soul’- Serena Williams’ Father ‘King’ Richard Once Detailed How Own Father’s Rejection Left Him Shattered

Venus and Serena Williams are one of the most celebrated athletes of all time. They made their name regardless of all the odds and changed the sport for the better. Having their level of self-confidence and fearlessness is a dream of many. However, it isn’t only a person’s desire that weighs in such matters.

The factor that builds or ruins a person’s view of the world is how their parents treat them in childhood. Parents lay the foundation and, in a way, decide what their child is going to be in the future. In the case of the Williams duo, unlike their father, they lucked out.

Richard about his father’s aloofness

Richard Williams gave Serena and Venus the exact upbringing that he wanted as a child. In a 2014 interview spoke about how getting a cold shoulder from his father affected him. He took a trip down memory lane and recalled an incident that shattered his heart in pieces. “It is a terrible thing to be so unloved, to know your father would rather let you die than lift a finger to help you.”

“To watch him run off and leave you all alone.” He said after disclosing how his father abandoned him during a violent dispute between him and three white men.

Thereafter, he added. “It was a rejection so cold it remains burnt in my memory and, in the end, it did what even white people could never do. Hurt me so deep in my soul that I have never forgotten or forgiven.”

Read more: ‘Learn to Separate That’ – Serena Williams Once Explained the Difficult Thing She Had to Endure While Facing Sister Venus

Even though Richard faced atrocities that can change a person’s perception of life forever, he used it to fuel himself to become the best dad out there. He not only protected Serena and Venus from hate while growing up but also guarded them against falling into the traps of agencies. In the end, his efforts paid off and his daughters ruled the sport like no other and became the entities that many young bloods look up to.

Venus and Serena Williams’ achievements

Starting with the elder sister. The seven-time Grand Slam champion debuted at the age of 14 and brought her first major title back home in 2000. She reigned on the hard courts of the US Open and clinched a dominant straight-set final win. Thereafter, she went ahead to claim 49 singles and a singles Olympics gold medal.

Speaking of other categories, Venus has 22 doubles titles (14 Grand Slam), three Olympic doubles gold, and one Olympic mixed doubles silver medal marked under her name. Coming to Serena; she is second to only Margaret Court in the all-time record of Grand Slam victories.

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Further, she held the ranking of World no.1 for a record 319 weeks and has a pile of 73 singles and 23 doubles trophies. The 41-year-old, with this season’s US Open, retired from the sport, leaving behind her illustrious career.