During her youth days, Venus Williams worked hard to carve a niche for herself in tennis. Her father, Richard Williams took her and her younger sister, Serena Williams, to the public tennis courts to train. Through grit, determination, and dedication, the Williams sisters went on to become one of the most successful siblings in the sport’s history.

Further, in her very first US Open appearance in 1997, Venus reached the finals before losing against Martina Hingis. It was an incredible effort by the American, putting in some eye-catching performances. Recently, her father, Richard Williams, talked about Venus’ first match in 1994.

Venus Williams’ father details the emotions during her first match

The former World Number 1 made her professional debut at the age of just 14 at the Bank of the West Classic in October 1994. She had a victorious start to her professional career, defeating compatriot Shaun Stafford in the opening round of the tournament in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

Talking about what went through her before her debut, Richard outlined, “She started shaking, nervous, you’ve been working for this day for nine long odd years and you’d be saying, well we don’t get there, we gonna get there and then finally you get there like tonight and you find out, wow we don’t belong here. Who belongs someplace that we were long back in the ghetto.”   

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Subsequently, she was up against World No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the next round. The latter had already won the French Open and the US Open that year. Venus put in a great fight before going down in three sets 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Venus to skip Wimbledon this season

Recently, the seven-time Grand Slam champion is away from tennis due to a leg injury. Her name is absent from the Wimbledon Championships’ singles entry list, meaning she won’t be competing in women’s singles at this year’s tournament.

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However, there is a possibility that she might team up with her younger sister, Serena Williams, to play doubles at Wimbledon. The duo has found tremendous success in doubles too, winning an astonishing 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles.