Venus Ebony Starr Williams[1] (born June 17, 1980), is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 58 as of June 25, 2012 in singles.[2] She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to achieve this feat during the Open Era. Her 7 Grand Slam titles tie her for twelfth on the all time list[3] and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. Venus Williams’ titles consist of: seven in singles, thirteen in women’s doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles also place her with four other women for twelfth place on the all-time list, whereas five Wimbledon singles titles tie her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list. Venus Williams is one of only four women in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles. Between the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only five women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches. Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women’s doubles.[4] She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924. With 43 career singles titles, Williams leads active players on the WTA Tour. Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000. She is also one of only three active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, the other players being her sister Serena Williams and Russian Maria Sharapova.[5] Venus Williams has played against her sister Serena Williams in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of the 23 matches. They have played against each other in eight Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they opposed each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, the first time ever in the open era that the same two players played against each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, let alone sisters. On the doubles side, the pair have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles playing alongside each other. Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing style 3 Professional career 3.1 1994–96: Professional debut 3.2 1997–99: Early success 3.3 2000–02: Williams sisters domination 3.4 2003–06: Injuries and losses 3.5 2007–09: Return to form 3.6 2010: Return to top 2 3.7 2011: Injuries and Illness 3.8 2012: Comeback to WTA Tour 3.9 Sister, Serena Williams 4 Fight for equal prize money 5 Personal life 5.1 Entrepreneur 6 Recognition 7 Equipment 8 Career statistics 8.1 Grand Slam Performance Timeline 9 Records and achievements 10 Awards 11 See also 12 References 13 External links [edit] Early life Venus Williams was born in Lynwood, California, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is the second youngest of Oracene’s five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Lyndrea and Isha Price, and younger sister Serena. Williams’s family moved from Compton, California, to West Palm Beach, when she was ten, so that Venus and Serena could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters. He did not always agree with Williams’s father but respected that “he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls”.[6] Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was eleven, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of white players talk negatively about the black Williams sisters during tournaments.[7] At that time, Venus Williams held a 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among the under-12 players in Southern California.[8] In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci’s academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home. [edit] Playing style Williams is a powerful baseliner, equipped with an attacking all-court game. Her game is very well adapted to grass where she feels most comfortable, which is reflected in her five Wimbledon singles titles. Across her career, she has developed into a skillful volleyer and effectively utilizes her long “wingspan” (1.85m) and agility around the net.[9] Williams also has great court coverage using her long reach to play balls that most players would not be able to reach and is capable of hitting outright winners from a defensive position.[10] Venus Williams holds the record for the fastest serve struck by a woman in a main draw event. At the Zurich Open, she recorded 130 mph (210 km/h).[citation needed] She also holds the record for fastest serve in all four Grand Slam tournaments: 2003 Australian Open quarterfinal – 125 mph (201 km/h), 2007 French Open second round, 2008 Wimbledon final, 2007 US Open first round – 129 mph (208 km/h).[11] At Wimbledon in 2008, her average first serve speed was 115 mph (185 km/h) in the quarterfinal, 116 mph (187 km/h) in the semifinal, and 111 mph (179 km/h) in the final.[citation needed] Williams has always been a explosive hitter of the ball off the ground, but her backhand is the more consistently reliable of her groundstrokes.[citation needed] Her backhand is equally effective down-the-line or crosscourt (frequently for a set-up approach shot).[citation needed] Her forehand occasionally breaks down under pressure.[citation needed] However, it is still the more powerful of her groundstrokes and yields many winners, from a variety of court positions.[citation needed] Additionally, it is one of the most powerful forehands in the women’s game,[citation needed] frequently struck in the 85 – 90 mph (140 km/h) range.[citation needed] In the 2008 Wimbledon women’s final, Venus struck a forehand winner measured at 94 mph (IBM/Wimbledon).[citation needed] Only a few women (notably Ivanovic, Serena Williams, and Justine Henin) hit to these speeds off the ground.[citation needed] Williams’s best surface is grass. She has won Wimbledon five times and has reached the final there in eight of the last ten years. The low bounces that grass produces tend to make her first serve an even more powerful weapon.[citation needed] Her movement on grass is also among the best on the WTA tour.[citation needed] Clay is Williams’s weakest surface although she has suffered numerous injuries prior to the French Open.[citation needed] Her movement is suspect and her powerful serve and groundstrokes are less effective.[citation needed] Still, she has won numerous[clarification needed] titles on clay. [edit] Professional career [edit] 1994–96: Professional debut Venus Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994, at the age of fourteen. In the second round of her first professional tournament, the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, Williams was up a set and a service break against World No. 2 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario before losing the match. That was the only tournament Williams played in 1994. In 1995, Williams played three more events as a wild card, falling in the first round of the tournament in Los Angeles and the tournament in Toronto but reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament in Oakland, defeating World No. 18 Amy Frazier in the second round for her first win over a top 20 ranked player before losing to Magdalena Maleeva. Williams played five events in 1996, falling in the first round four times but reaching the third round in Los Angeles, before losing to World No. 1 Steffi Graf. [edit] 1997–99: Early success Williams played 15 tour events in 1997, including five Tier I tournaments. She reached the quarterfinals in three of the Tier I events – the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, the European Indoor Championships in Zürich, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. In Indian Wells in March, Williams defeated World No. 9 Iva Majoli in the third round for her first win over a player ranked in the top 10. She then lost in the quarterfinals to World No. 8 Lindsay Davenport in a third set tiebreak. Her ranking broke into the top 100 on April 14, 1997. She made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, reaching the second round before losing to Nathalie Tauziat. She then lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Magdalena Grzybowska. During her debut at the US Open, she lost the final to Martina Hingis after defeating Irina Spîrlea in a semifinal famous for “the bump” in which Spîrlea intentionally collided with Williams during a changeover, commenting later that it happened “. . . because she thinks she’s the freaking Venus Williams.” Richard Williams, her father, later claimed that this incident was racially motivated.[12] She was the first woman since Pam Shriver in 1978 to reach a US Open singles final on her first attempt and was the first unseeded US Open women’s singles finalist since 1958. On September 8, 1997, her ranking broke into the top 50 for the first time. She ended the year ranked World No. 22. Her debut at the Australian Open, Williams defeated younger sister Serena in the second round, which was the sisters’ first professional meeting. Venus eventually lost in the quarterfinals to World No. 3 Davenport. Three weeks later, Williams defeated World No. 2 Davenport for the first time in the semifinals of the I
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Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980), is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 47 as of June 11, 2012 Read the rest
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