VENUS RISING
Champion, activist and trailblazer – Venus Williams on what’s next
WITH SEVEN GRAND SLAM TITLES UNDER HER BELT, VENUS WILLIAMS HAS CONQUERED A LIFE-ALTERING DISEASE AND THE CHALLENGE OF STARTING TWO BUSINESSES TO HAVE ONE OF HER MOST SUCCESSFUL YEARS IN TENNIS. BUT DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK – SHE’S JUST GETTING STARTED, SAYS LYNETTE NYLANDER
“I’ve worked so hard ALL MY LIFE,
so one of my PERSONAL goals is to actually HAVE A LIFE”
Some of the most memorable moments in tennis history have come courtesy of two sisters: Venus and Serena Williams. The prodigies from Florida, by way of Compton, captured the world’s attention as young tweens (they both turned pro aged 14), and went on to blaze through Wimbledon Centre Court, earn top billing at the US Open and win 44 Grand Slam championships combined.
The elder of the Williams sisters by little over a year, Venus changed the landscape of tennis forever. Her physical prowess, supreme confidence on court and majestic take on the game made the seemingly impossible, possible. And as the first black woman to become the top-ranked singles player in the world, she broke boundaries, grabbed headlines, banked millions and made history.
But in 2018, Venus’s legacy is only just getting started. She’s as busy as ever when we talk. By 4pm, she’s already completed a full day at the office, running her two successful businesses (EleVen by Venus Williams, which specialises in athleisure apparel, and V Starr Interiors, an interior-design company). Now, she’s looking forward to an evening of doing absolutely nothing. ‘I just want to stay still. It’s gonna be great,’ she laughs over the phone – we’re speaking during a rare pocket of downtime as Venus makes her way back to her West Palm Beach home. In a hushed tone, she explains her fatigue comes from a full-on training programme, which has been designed to help build on her extraordinary return to the tennis world stage last year: ‘I will work out in the morning, the evening, whenever. I have to be flexible.’
In 2017, 17 years after her first Grand Slam win, Venus ended the year by reaching two finals and a semi-final, including an appearance in the last round of Wimbledon, which she last won some nine years ago. Her resurgence at 37, an age where most players have retired, only highlights her remarkable athleticism and focus. ‘I would just like to win tournaments and majors. I set the goals in practice and have to execute them.’
Geared up, she has her eyes firmly set on Wimbledon come July. ’I’ve had a lot of amazing times at Wimbledon, both in singles and doubles and also at the Olympics [in 2012]. I love London in general and have the best memories of being in the city – sneaking off and exploring, going to Selfridges. I would just make sure I was in my hotel room before it was dark!’ The fervour ever present in her voice, Venus explains: ‘I first went to Wimbledon wanting to win so badly, so when it happened, it was a feeling that was mine and nobody else’s. I just want memories like that to continue for as long as possible.’
The term ‘overachiever’ doesn’t come close to describing Venus. In the midst of her tennis career, where most young champions would be enjoying their new-found wealth and global fame, she found time to complete degrees in her other passions – fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and business administration from Indiana University East. She’s now also studying for a third in interior architecture. Along with her sister Serena, 36, Venus owns a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins NFL team (they are the first black American women to do so), as well as running the Yetunde Price Resource Center (named after their late sister, who was tragically killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton in 2003). How does she manage it all? ‘Well, really it’s all about love,’ she explains. ‘You’ve got to love what you do. I made the decision a long time ago that I wouldn’t do anything that I didn’t love, and I always had a choice. That’s why I feel grateful – I get to choose my life.’
Venus’s well-documented story is one of modern sports folklore. Her father Richard, who had no experience in the professional tennis world, saw Romanian tennis player Virginia Ruzici win $40,000 in a tournament in 1980 and promptly drew up a 78-page plan to turn young Venus and Serena into the game’s next superstars. A glittering career of triumphs later, she recently reached her 1,000th professional game. ‘Honestly, if I knew that would happen all those years ago, I would think it was
crazy! When I’m out there, all I think about is, “Why am I not better? Why didn’t I shoot better?” But suddenly, these milestones just creep up on you. I’m just excited that my [1,000th game] was a win. I would like to think that the next 1,000 on a professional tour will be when I retire,’ she laughs.
Venus is a fighter in the game because she’s had to be in life. She’s battled with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that severely attacks the muscles, and she’s fought racism on and off court. When she first emerged onto the scene, unmistakably and unapologetically black in a sport dominated by white males, Venus and her sister were subjected to criticism of everything from their bodies to their outspoken nature on court. Venus often wore a crown of braids adorned with a rainbow of beads, masterminded by her mother Oracene, who saw the ornamentation as a chance for her daughters to express their heritage. ‘Our mom has been really committed to making sure that all my sisters have a strong mentality to thrive in this world,’ sister Serena explains when I speak with her about Venus.
In 1999, an umpire docked points from Venus’s Australian Open match against Martina Hingis when the impact of her powerful serve caused her beads to come loose and fall on the court. The umpire’s reason? ‘A disturbance.’ A controversy now known as ‘beadgate’ ensued. It troubles Venus that, more than 20 years later, young black women athletes still face similar challenges. For example, black American gymnast Gabby Douglas was criticised throughout the 2012 London Olympics for not wearing her hair ‘neatly’ enough, while internet trolls picked apart her teammate Simone Biles. ‘Venus is someone who has overcome so many obstacles – from tennis to her health – and she runs two businesses. She faces obstacles every day. I think that everything she’s gone through, from age 18 to now, has shaped her to become the amazing woman she is,’ Serena says.
Serena also points out that, a whole decade before the current global uprising for women’s rights, Venus was campaigning for equal pay in the game. ‘She’s always wanted to be a strong woman and set an example. With her campaigning [for equal pay], she laid out an example for her country to stand up and show that you can do more than just be a tennis player.’ Until 2007, female Wimbledon champions won a smaller cash prize than their male champion peers; Venus was instrumental in getting that changed. Venus reflects: ‘For me, the conversation [around equality] was never there. There are always challenges that you have to overcome on a daily basis. Unfortunately, people have the tendency to want to dominate one another, but fortunately, there are people who want to build other women up. It’s up to those people who want to build to hopefully eliminate all that negativity.’
Venus is keen to clarify that she doesn’t identify with the word ‘feminist’. ‘I don’t like labels – though I do think as women we have much more power and opportunities in our hands than ever before. We truly don’t know how powerful we are. There’s nothing like a powerful woman walking into a room; her presence is like nothing else. It’s inspiring. Using it in a positive way is important.’
However, Venus does embrace the traditional tropes of femininity. She has a deep appreciation for the worlds of beauty and fashion, and references the emerging style scenes of Brazil and Russia, where she often travels for work, as the main sources of her sartorial inspiration. ‘They are less influenced by trends there,’ she explains. And in her downtime, Venus loves to dance: ‘My ideal week would be going to a jazz or hip-hop class at least a couple of times. Oh, and karaoke – I love karaoke!’ Though she’s still fully committed to the tennis circuit, Venus has become more reflective about her life beyond the game. She admits to wanting to start a family of her own after recently becoming an aunt to Alexis Olympia, Serena’s daughter with new husband Alexis Ohanian. However, Venus keeps her rumoured romance with TV Guide heir Nicholas Hammond under wraps. ‘I have worked so hard all my life, so one of my personal goals after this chapter is to actually have a life. Because I work and travel so much, it’s become a goal to one day slow down,’ she says.
Whatever that means for Venus, her story will no doubt keep momentum: a prodigy who carved a space for herself in a place where there wasn’t one, and left a ladder for the next generation to climb. ‘There are so many emerging forces; there’s been so much growth for women in sports. It’s very exciting. You have to be able to stand up for what you believe in and I think I’ve done a good job.
I guess I don’t have too many regrets.’
“As women, we have much more POWER and OPPORTUNITIES than ever before”