Venus Williams was born on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California. She is an American professional tennis player. As of July 2007, she is the reigning Wimbledon ladies' singles champion. She was formerly ranked as the World No. 1 tennis player. Venus has won the Olympic gold medal in women's tennis and 14 Grand Slam titles, including six singles (four at Wimbledon), six women's doubles, and two mixed doubles titles. Williams is the older sister of fellow former World No. 1 tennis player Serena Williams. The Williams sisters are noted for their power games: Venus holds the record for the fastest serve ever recorded by a female player in a main draw match (129 mph). Early career Already well-known at age 14, Venus Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994. In the second round of her first professional tournament in Oakland, Williams was up a set and a service break against top seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario before losing the match. That was the only tournament Williams played in 1994. She remained a part time player on the tour during the next two years, playing only three tournaments in 1995 and five tournaments in 1996. Venus Williams began to play regularly on the tour in 1997. The highlight of her year was her debut at the U.S. Open, where she lost in the final to Martina Hingis 6-0, 6-4 after defeating Irina Spirlea in a semifinal famous for "the bump" in which Spirlea and Williams collided during a changeover. Richard Williams later claimed that this incident was racially motivated. In 1998, Williams teamed with Justin Gimelstob to win the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her sister Serena Williams won the other two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles of the year, completing a "Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam." In singles, Venus won the Grand Slam Cup and the tournaments in Miami and Oklahoma City. She also reached at least the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments. She ended the year ranked fifth in the world. In 1999, Venus Williams won the tournament in Miami, defeating Jana Novotna, Steffi Graf, and her sister Serena in successive matches. Venus also won the tournaments in Hamburg, Rome, New Haven, and Zurich. Venus and Serena teamed to win the doubles titles at the French Open and the U.S. Open, becoming the first sister team to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the 20th century. Venus also went 2-1 in the United States 4-1 win in the final of the Fed Cup against Russia giving the U.S. its 16th title. 1-1 in singles 1-0 in doubles (with Serena) In 2000, Williams won the singles title at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[3] She became only the second player to win the women's singles and doubles title at the same Games. The Williams sisters also won the Wimbledon doubles title for the first time. Venus Williams defended her Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in 2001. At the U.S. Open, Williams won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating sister Serena in the final 6-2, 6-4. The Williams sisters won the Australian Open doubles title for the first time, completing a career Grand Slam in doubles for the pair. Venus won six singles titles during the year. Venus Williams opened 2002 by defeating Justine Henin to win the Gold Coast tournament. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, won Paris and Antwerp, and reached the semifinals of Dubai and Miami. Williams won seven singles titles during the year, a career best. In February 2002, Williams became the top-ranked player in the world, the first African American player to garner that spot since the computer rankings began in 1975. The Williams sisters won the Wimbledon doubles title for the second time in 2002. Beginning with the 2002 French Open and extending through the Australian Open in 2003, Venus reached the final in four consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments, losing each to Serena.
2003 Venus Williams started the year by losing to her sister Serena in three sets in the 2003 Australian Open final. Williams then won the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium for the second consecutive year, defeating Daniela Hantuchova and Kim Clijsters in consecutive matches. During a semifinal match against Clijsters at Wimbledon, Venus Williams suffered a severe abdominal injury that required medical attention during the match. Williams lost the first set and was behind early in the second set before rain delayed the match. Once play resumed, Williams won the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, advancing to her fourth consecutive Wimbledon final. Venus lost the final to her sister Serena 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Venus's older half sister, Yetunde Price, was murdered in the Compton, California area on the morning of September 14, 2003. The era of domination by the Williams sisters began to close out after the murder. Following Wimbledon, both Venus and Serena suffered injuries that kept them out of competition for the last half of the year. 2004 Venus Williams came back to the tour and experienced inconsistent results. As the third seeded player because of a protected ranking, she reached the third round of the Australian Open, where she lost to Lisa Raymond. After quarterfinal losses in Tokyo, Dubai, and Miami, Williams won the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, defeating Conchita Martinez in the final. At the Tier II tournament in Warsaw, Williams defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. The following week, Williams reached the final of the Tier I tournament in Berlin but was forced to retire from her match against Amelie Mauresmo. Going into the French Open, Williams had the best clay court record among the women and was among the favorites to win the title; however, she lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 6-4. At Wimbledon, Williams lost a controversial second round match to Croatian Karolina Sprem. The umpire of the match, Ted Watts, awarded Sprem an unearned point in the second set tiebreak. Upon the conclusion of the match, he was quickly relieved of his duties. Venus Williams was the third seed at the hardcourt tournament in Stanford, where she lost the final to top seeded Lindsay Davenport in a third set tiebreak. At the tournament in Los Angeles the following week, Williams lost again to Davenport, this time in the semifinals. Williams was leading 5-1 in the first set when she suffered an injury and lost the last six games of the set. She then retired from the match. In the fourth round of the U.S. Open, Venus Williams lost to Davenport for the third consecutive time. Williams ended her year by losing in the quarterfinals of three consecutive tournaments in Moscow, Zurich, and Philadelphia. 2005 Venus Williams started the year by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Alicia Molik. She then reached the final at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium, where she was attempting to win the tournament for the third time in four years. She defeated Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals, Anastasia Myskina in the semifinals, and was up a set and a break in the final against Amelie Mauresmo before losing the match. Williams then lost in the first round in Dubai. At the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, Venus defeated her sister Serena in the quarterfinals before losing to Maria Sharapova. This was the first time since the 2001 U.S. Open that Venus had defeated Serena. Venus Williams then reached the quarterfinals at Amelia Island, where she lost to top seeded Lindsay Davenport. In her next tournament in Charleston, Williams lost in the third round. She then won a Tier III title in Istanbul, defeating second seeded Nicole Vaidisova in the final. At the French Open, Williams lost in the third round to 15-year old Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva, who subsequently failed a doping test and was suspended from the tour for two years. At Wimbledon, Venus Williams defeated defending champion Sharapova in a semifinal 7-6(2), 6-1, breaking Sharapova's serve four times. (Sharapova had lost only one service game to that point.) This marked the sixth consecutive year that at least one of the Williams sisters had reached the final, and it was Venus's fifth appearance in the Wimbledon final in the past 6 years. In the longest Wimbledon final in history, Williams was down match point at 6-4, 6-7(4), 5-4 (40-30) before coming back to defeat top seeded Davenport. This was Williams's third Wimbledon singles title, and this was the first time in 70 years that a player had won after being down match point during the women's final. In addition, Williams, as the 14th seed, was the lowest seed to win the women's singles title in Wimbledon history. Playing for the fifth consecutive week, including Fed Cup, Venus Williams reached the final of the Stanford tournament after defeating Patty Schnyder in a semifinal 2-6, 7-6, 6-2. Visibly exhausted, Williams lost the final to Clijsters. At the 2005 U.S. Open, Williams reached the quarterfinals. In the fourth round, Venus defeated her sister Serena for the second consecutive time. In the quarterfinals, Williams lost to Clijsters 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, who went on to win the tournament. In 2005, Tennis Magazine put her in 25th place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era. 2006 Venus Williams lost surprisingly in the first round of the Australian Open to Tsvetana Pironkova 2-6, 6-0, 9-7. It was Williams' earliest loss at that tournament. Williams was out of action from January 16 until April 30 because of injuries. After defeating Martina Hingis in the second round, she reached the quarterfinals at the J&S Cup in Warsaw, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova. She then lost to Hingis in a semifinal of the Italian Open, after defeating Jelena Jankovic and Patty Schnyder in earlier rounds. Williams ended her clay court season with a French Open quarterfinal loss to Nicole Vaidisova 6-7, 6-1, 6-3. Venus Williams competed at Wimbledon as one of the favorites to win the title. She survived a scare against fellow American Lisa Raymond in the second round when Williams was two points from defeat. Williams then lost in the third round to 26th seeded Janković 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-4. After the loss, Venus was quoted as saying that she was having pain in her left wrist, but that it was not the reason why she lost. Venus Williams did not play in the U.S. Open series or the U.S. Open itself due to a recurring wrist injury. During her first tournament in almost three months, she reinjured her wrist in Luxembourg and lost in the second round after defeating rising star Ana Ivanovic in the first round. 2007 Venus Williams started the year by withdrawing from the 2007 Australian Open because of a recurring wrist injury. This was the second consecutive Grand Slam event that Williams has missed due to injury. At the WTA Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, Williams won the title, defeating top-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel in the final 6-1, 6-1. This was her first tournament since October 2006 and her 34th career singles title. Williams's next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she lost in the third round to top seeded Maria Sharapova 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. However, her ranking jumped from number 39 to number 32. She then moved onto clay, playing at the Tier II Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida. She beat Aravane Rezai and fourth seeded Patty Schnyder before falling in the quarterfinals to the eighth seeded eventual champion Tatiana Golovin 6-2, 6-3. Her next tournament was the Tier 1 Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, where she lost in the semifinals to Jelena Jankovic. Despite the loss, her ranking rose to World No. 22. Venus Williams played Fed Cup with her sister Serena for the first time in four years, in a home tie against Belgium in Delray Beach, Florida beating the young Belgium team 5-0. Williams defeated Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2 and Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 6-2. At the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland, a title she won in 2004, Venus Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. After taking two weeks off after her loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in Warsaw, Williams arrived in Istanbul in preparation for the French Open at the Istanbul Cup. She started out well, defeating Tatiana Poutchek 6-1, 6-2 in the first round. However, her run ended as she lost to French hard hitter Aravane Rezai 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. This was Williams's first ever defeat in a Tier III event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. At the French Open, Williams lost her third round match with Janković 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. During her second round win over Ashley Harkleroad, Williams hit a 206 km/h (128.8 mph) serve, which is the fastest woman's serve ever recorded.
She then played for America in the Fed Cup for their semifinal tie against Russia. Despite Venus winning both her singles matches, beating Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze, the American team lost in the deciding doubles tie where Venus paired up with Lisa Raymond. Williams' next tournament was San Diego. In the first round, she defeated Anastassia Rodionova 6-3, 6-0 despite having a low percentage of first serves in. She faced Virginie Razzano in her second round match and won 6-2, 6-4. Venus Williams struggled a bit in the second set, serving six double faults and only getting 49% of her first serve in. Venus played a much better match against Daniela Hantuchova, the sixth seed in the tournament. She defeated Hantuchova in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3 serving 5 aces in the process and breaking her 7 times. For her quarter-final match, Williams lost to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia. Venus held match point in the second set but lost her nerve, double faulting and ended up giving the match to her opponent. Williams served 8 double faults and managed to only get 43% of her first serves in play in the third set. The final score was 6-7, 7-6, 6-2. However, as a result of her quarterfinal appearance, she moved up two spots to take the #14 spot in the world rankings. She was scheduled to play the Rogers Cup in Toronto but withdrew due to injury. At the U.S. Open, Venus Williams defeated all of her early-round opponents in straight sets. In a quarterfinal match that culminated in a dramatic third-set tiebreak, Venus prevailed over Jelena Janković 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Williams was defeated by Justine Henin in the semifinals of the 2007 US Open 7-6, 6-4 both players played high quality tennis but both had some health issues during the match. Henin came off court first during the match for some treatment yet in the second set Venus was complaining of a stomach ache and dizzyness and was given minimal treatment for it. In the post match interview Venus stated "I just was feeling dizzy, a little sick to the stomach. Was just having some energy problems. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me" adding "But, you know, credit to her for playing well." Later , Oracene Price the Williams sisters mother talked about how Venus had been diagnosed with anaemia in San Diego where she lost in the quarter finals , revealing that “Today I guess the anaemia came back,” continuing “Venus feels like the ground is moving beneath her feet. Things aren’t right and we have to find out what’s wrong.” After reaching the semifinals ,her ranking moved up five places to No. 9. With Serena at No 7, it was the first time the sisters were in the top 10 together Since September 2005.
2008 Venus Williams began the year at an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong, defeating Maria Sharapova in the final 6–4, 6–3. She also won the doubles tournament with Caroline Williams was the eighth-seed at the Australian Open. Playing in the quarterfinals at this tournament for the first time since 2003, Williams lost to fourth-seeded Ana Ivanović 7–6(3), 6–4. When asked after the match about whether the quarterfinal losses by both Williams sisters at the Australian Open marked their decline, she replied that she had heard the same talk "every single year. Serena and I, we don't have anything to prove. The way we're playing still maintains what other women are doing in tennis. We still set a very high standard. I don't get too caught up in what the next person thinks." Playing with her sister Serena in the women's doubles event at the Australian Open, they defeated the second-seeded team of Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama in the second round but lost in the quarterfinals to the seventh-seeded team and 2006 Australian Open champions Zi Yan and Jie Zheng. At the Tier I Qatar Total Open in Doha, Venus Williams was upset in the third round by 18 year old Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. Williams also played the doubles tournament in Doha as a wild card team with Caroline Wozniacki. Their first round win marked the first time that Venus had won an official WTA tour women's doubles match without sister Serena. In the second round, Williams and Wozniacki lost to the fourth-seeded Taipei pair of Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang. At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, Venus Williams was the top seeded player but lost to Petra Kvitova in the first round 2–6, 6–4, 6–3 after Williams had led 2–0 in the third set. At the Tier II Canara Bank Bangalore (India) Open, Venus and her sister Serena lost in the doubles quarterfinals to third-seeded and eventual tournament winners Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun. In singles, Venus lost to Serena, the eventual tournament champion, in the semifinals 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(4) on Serena's second match point after Serena Williams had saved a match point while trailing 6–5 in the third set. At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Venus Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4. On April 9, 2008, Williams announced that she will be away from the tour indefinitely but refused to explain other than to say, "I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible. I'm not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport." The following day, Williams's agent, Carlos Fleming, said, "This is not a hiatus. This is not a break from the tour. This was a limited window where she could get these [medical] evaluations before the three major tournaments and Olympics this summer", adding "Venus has assured me that there's no serious medical problem." Venus Williams returned to the tour at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where she lost in the quarterfinals to fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 5–7, 6–2, 6–3 . At the French Open, Williams was seeded eighth but was eliminated by 26th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta in the third round 7-5, 6-3. Williams was the defending champion and seventh-seeded player at Wimbledon. Without dropping a set, she reached her seventh Wimbledon singles final after defeating fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the semifinals 6–1, 7–6(3). Venus Williams then won her fifth Wimbledon singles title, beating her sister Serena in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. Venus and Serena then teamed to win the women's doubles title without dropping a set the entire tournament, defeating Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2, in the final.
Despite decades of lobbying by tennis pioneer Billie Jean King and others, only the French Open and Wimbledon in 2005 still refused to pay women's and men's players equally through all rounds. In 2005, Williams met with officials from both tournaments, arguing that female tennis players should be paid as much as males. Although WTA tour President Larry Scott commented that she left "a very meaningful impression," Williams's demands were rejected. The turning point was an essay published in the The Times on the eve of Wimbledon in 2006. In it, Williams accused Wimbledon of being on the "wrong side of history," writing: I feel so strongly that Wimbledon’s stance devalues the principle of meritocracy and diminishes the years of hard work that women on the tour have put into becoming professional tennis players. I believe that athletes — especially female athletes in the world’s leading sport for women — should serve as role models. The message I like to convey to women and girls across the globe is that there is no glass ceiling. My fear is that Wimbledon is loudly and clearly sending the opposite message.... Wimbledon has argued that women’s tennis is worth less for a variety of reasons; it says, for example, that because men play a best of five sets game they work harder for their prize money. This argument just doesn’t make sense; first of all, women players would be happy to play five sets matches in grand slam tournaments.... Secondly, tennis is unique in the world of professional sports. No other sport has men and women competing for a grand slam championship on the same stage, at the same time. So in the eyes of the general public the men’s and women’s games have the same value. Third, ... we enjoy huge and equal celebrity and are paid for the value we deliver to broadcasters and spectators, not the amount of time we spend on the stage. And, for the record, the ladies’ final at Wimbledon in 2005 lasted 45 minutes longer than the men’s.... Wimbledon has justified treating women as second class because we do more for the tournament. The argument goes that the top women — who are more likely also to play doubles matches than their male peers — earn more than the top men if you count singles, doubles and mixed doubles prize money. So the more we support the tournament, the more unequally we should be treated! But doubles and mixed doubles are separate events from the singles competition. Is Wimbledon suggesting that, if the top women withdrew from the doubles events, that then we would deserve equal prize money in singles? And how then does the All England Club explain why the pot of women’s doubles prize money is nearly £130,000 smaller than the men’s doubles prize money? I intend to keep doing everything I can until Billie Jean's original dream of equality is made real. It’s a shame that the name of the greatest tournament in tennis, an event that should be a positive symbol for the sport, is tarnished. In response, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of Parliament publicly endorsed Williams's arguments. Later that year, the Women's Tennis Association and UNESCO teamed for a campaign to promote gender equality in sports, asking Venus Williams to lead the campaign. Under enormous pressure, Wimbledon announced in February 2007 that it would award equal prize money to all competitors in all rounds, and the French Open followed suit a day later. In the aftermath, French Tennis Federation president Christian Bimes admitted he had been "particularly sensitive" to Williams's remarks,, and the Chicago Sun-Times cited Williams as "the single factor" that "changed the minds of the boys" and a leader whose "willingness to take a public stand separates her not only from most of her female peers, but also from our most celebrated male athletes." Williams herself commented, "Somewhere in the world a little girl is dreaming of holding a giant trophy in her hands and being viewed as an equal to boys who have similar dreams." Venus Williams herself ultimately became the first woman to benefit from the equalization of prize money at Wimbledon, winning the 2007 tournament and being awarded the same amount as the male winner. Off Court Her boyfriend, pro golfer Hank Kuehne, has been a visible presence since Wimbledon, holding her hand during the long delays and clapping support from the players' box along with Williams' parents and younger sister, Serena. "He's a great guy," Williams said. "He understands competition. He's very supportive. I love having him here and everyone else in the box, too." Venus Williams is a businesswoman and CEO of her interior design firm "V Starr Interiors" located in Jupiter, Florida. Williams' company garnered prominence by designing the set of the "Tavis Smiley Show" on PBS, designed the Olympic athletes apartments as a part of the U.S. bid package for New York to host the 2012 games, and designed for residences and businesses in the Palm Beach, Florida area. Most recently Venus Williams has teamed up with retailer Steve & Barry's to launch her own fashion line EleVen to be in stores from November with over 120 pieces. Venus commented saying "I love fashion and the idea that I am using my design education to actually create clothing and footwear that I will wear on and off the tennis court is a dream come true for me," Venus Williams said, "the vision has been to create a collection that will allow women to enjoy an active lifestyle while remaining fashionable at the same time. I'm thrilled with everything we've created to launch EleVen." In 2001, Venus Williams was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal.
Source of this Venus Williams article: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia Tennis Players: Men Pete Sampras Roger Federer Bjorn Borg Andre Agassi Jimmy Connors John McEnroe Rafael Nadal Andy Roddick Women Steffi Graf Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Monica Seles Martina Hingis Serena Williams Venus Williams Maria Sharapova |
