Serena Williams is arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, and one of the most formidable athletes the world has ever seen. A professional tennis player by the time she was a teenager, Williams would go on to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles (along with numerous others), as well as scoring major endorsement deals and prize money, making her one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, but not everyone knows just how Serena Williams got into tennis.
Serena Williams might be one of the greatest athletes ever, but she owes the start of her career to her father, Richard. Without his influence, the world might never have been graced with Williams’ presence on the tennis court.
Business Plans and Darling Daughters
Serena Williams was born on September 26,1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, but spent her childhood in Compton, California. Serena, her parents, Richard and Oracene (nee Price), and her four siblings arrived in the gang-ridden city south of Los Angeles in 1983.
Serena’s father ran a private security firm. In his spare time, Richard loved to watch tennis matches on television, and became obsessed with turning his children into tennis pros, after seeing a player accept a $30,000 prize for winning a tournament.
Richard himself did not know how to play tennis, but that did not stop him from coming up with an epic 78-page plan for his daughters’ future careers. Richard also supposedly started taking tennis lessons from a man named “Old Whiskey,” whom Richard paid in liquor.
Despite Richard clearly being the Svengali in both Venus and Serena’s careers, it’s hard to determine the exact truth of how Richard learned to play tennis or create such a masterful business plan. Hollywood producer, Arnon Milchan, who would go on to offer Serena William a major endorsement deal, said of Richard and his many inconsistencies, “You know when you meet somebody, and you think he’s either insane or he’s a genius? But if he’s insane, he’s still fascinating, because you’ve never seen somebody so crazy in that way? You say, ‘It’s probably impossible, but this guy looks like he’s in good faith.’ What he’s saying you’ve never heard before.”
The Compton Courts
What is known for sure is that Richard began to train Serena and her older sister, Venus, on the public courts in their Compton neighborhood. At the time, Serena Williams was only 3-years old.
Both Serena and Venus had to take cover from the gunfire in the area multiple times while training in those days. When they weren’t training, they were home-schooled by their mother, Oracene, rather than attend regular school, which gave both sisters ample time on the tennis courts.
You can see the Williams family discuss Serena and Venus’ childhood in Compton in the YouTube video below.
Tennis Camp and a Turn to the Pros
Eventually the family relocated to Florida so that Serena and Venus could train at Rick Macci’s legendary tennis camp. Though Macci did not initially see much talent in the Williams sisters, as their time went on, Macci said, “What blew me away was their burning desire to run and fight and get to every ball like their hair was on fire. I had never seen two kids try so hard. I had never seen bodies that could move like that. Athletes with their body types went to other sports; they didn’t play tennis.”
Macci struck a deal with Richard where the sisters would get free scholarships and board at the tennis camp, in return for a portion of their future earnings. It turned out to be the best deal of Macci’s life.
The rest, as they say, is history. Serena Williams played in her first professional match in 1995, when she was just 14-years old, and at 17, Williams won her first Grand Slam during the U.S. Open in 1999. Never one to forget her humble beginnings, Williams took to Instagram to share a throwback photo, captioning the picture, “Would you believe me if I told you the girl on the left always dreamed of becoming the woman on the right? Keep fighting.”
A Living Legend
The tennis titan’s career has held strong for over two decades, with Serena Williams becoming one of the most lauded tennis players ever, even having the “Serena Slam” named after her. Though it was Serena’s natural skill that put her in the history books, it’s clear her father, Richard, played a huge part in kick starting her career.
Speaking of her father, Williams has said, “He’s been the most important person in my career.”