The father of Venus and Serena Williams, Richard Williams, always envisioned the success of his daughters. From the very beginning, he mapped out a plan to make his daughters professional tennis players.

However, he and his wife, Oracene, had to face a lot of difficulties trying to raise both Venus and Serena, along with their other daughters. In the past, Richard talked about going against his mother’s advice, as he was determined to make Venus and Serena world-famous tennis players.

Richard Williams talked about going against his mother’s will for Venus and Serena

In an interview in 1999, Richard Williams told an interesting story about her mother. He said, “Tell you something – when Venus was about four years old, my mom said, `You can’t raise two kids like I brought you up in the Forties and Fifties’. I said, `Yes, ma’am’.“

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He continued as to how he taught them the importance of hard work right from a very young age. “But I brought them up that way anyway, because they started working at two years old. My wife was really upset with me about that. But we never have a problem with what goes on, because they’re looking to help each other all the time,” he said.

According to him, Oracene was the one who was traveling with Venus and Serena during their pro tour, as he was taking care of various businesses. 

The rise of Venus and Serena on the WTA tour

In 1999, Venus, 19, and Serena, 17, just started to show their real talents on the tour. Two years back, Venus reached her first Grand Slam final at the US Open but lost to Martina Hingis. Interestingly, Serena won her first Grand Slam title in 1999, before her elder sister, Venus.

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According to Oracene, Venus was upset with Serena for winning a Grand Slam before her. However, Venus quickly bounced back and won her first Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon Championships in 20oo. Later, she went on to win the US Open as well, in the same year.

At the end of 2001, Venus had four Grand Slam titles to her name, while Serena had only one. Moreover, Venus dismantled Serena at the US Open final in 2001 to clinch her 4th Grand Slam title. Shortly after her sister’s dominance, Serena quickly established herself as one of the best players to ever the play sport. She became the most successful of the two sisters, as her father predicted.

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