February 28, 2005 Celebrating Black History Month: The Incredible Williams Sisters Following in the footsteps of Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil, two gangly sisters from California not only rewrote African-American tennis history, they set a whole new standard of athleticism and power for the sport worldwide, and became the first tennis players to truly transcend the sporting world and become superstars in their own right. Born 15 months apart, Venus and Serena famously took up tennis on the public courts in Compton, guided by their father, Richard, who got the notion one day after he watched Virginia Ruzici pick up a giant cheque after winning the Florida Federal Open in 1977. Not a player himself, Richard decided he and his wife should have two more daughters and then studied tennis instruction books to pass on his knowledge to the talented girls, who picked up the skills with ease. Their skills became apparent to observers in the early 1990s when then moved to Pompano Beach, Florida, and while they received instruction from acclaimed tutor Rick Macci, their father remained the driving force behind their careers. Richard certainly didn't follow the conventional route and decided that after playing selected under-12 national tournaments, they would forgo any other junior events. Venus made her monumental debut at the age of 14 in Oakland, California, where she defeated veteran Shaun Stafford and led then world No.2 Arantxa Sanchez 62 31 before falling, but it wasn't until 1997 that the Venus bandwagon got well and truly rolling, where she became the lowest-ranked woman to ever reach a US Open final (at No.68). Sister Serena duly followed in Moscow, and in just her second Tour event, shocked Top 10 players Monica Seles and Mary Pierce in Chicago to reach the semis. In 1998, the house of Williams claimed a mixed doubles Grand Slam, with Venus claiming the Australian and French Opens with Justin Gimelstob, while younger sis won the two remaining majors, Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi. In 1999, a number of sister firsts were accomplished with both winning a singles title on the same day, February 28 (Serena in Paris, Venus in Oklahoma City); both played a singles final (Miami) since the Watson sisters battled it out at Wimbledon in 1884 and both simultaneously ranked in the Top 10 in April (equaling the Maleevas' 1991 feat) and in the Top 5 following the US Open. It was there at Flushing Meadows that Serena turned the pundits' heads, coming back to win three-set thrillers against Clijsters, Martinez, Seles and Davenport before toppling world No.1 Martina Hingis (who had beaten Venus in the semis) in the final, to win her national title at the age of 17, while Venus looked on from the stands. For a while it looked like Serena might steamroll ahead as Venus took five months off due to injury. But Venus used this to her advantage and when she showed up at Wimbledon, with just three tournaments under her belt, she overturned the world's Top 2 players, Hingis and Davenport, and her sister in the semis to become the first African-American woman to conquer the All-England Club's famed lawns since Gibson previously did so in 1958. Venus went on a roll, winning the US Open and the Olympics and defending her crowns at Wimbledon and New York the following year (only the sixth woman ever to defend those crowns in consecutive years after Helen Wills-1929, Maureen Connolly-1953, Gibson-1958, Martina Navratilova-1984/87 and Steffi Graf 1989/96), defeating her sister Serena in a historic night final of the latter, for the first all-sibling Grand Slam final in 117 years. That was the impetus Serena needed, and following her sister's ascent to No.1 in February 2002 (the first African-American tennis professional - male or female to be No.1 on the computer singles rankings), Serena conquered the Miami title, becoming the only woman ever to beat the Top 3 players in the world without the loss of a set in consecutive matches. That paved the way for another all-Williams final at Roland Garros, where Serena fulfilled her father's prophecy by both sisters occupying the Top 2 spots in the rankings for the first time, and she overturned her sister for the first time in a major tournament 75 63. The balance of power had shifted. Four weeks later, Serena wrestled the Wimbledon title from her sister's grasp and the No.1 ranking with it. It was a similar story in New York and again the following January in Melbourne, as the younger sister competed the 'Serena Slam', holding all four majors at the same time, only the fifth woman to do so after all-time greats Connolly, Margaret Court, Navratilova and Graf. Just when critics were lamenting the lack of depth in the sport and the supremacy of the sisters, along came two plucky Belgians into the mix, to interrupt the run of four all-sister finals at Roland Garros, while at Wimbledon order was restored where it was another all-family affair, with Serena winning in three sets. That unfortunately was the last appearance of the famed duo for the rest of the 2003 season when both were sidelined by severe injuries – Serena a right knee quadriceps tendon which required surgery and Venus an abdominal tear. Both reappeared in 2004, but apart from brief glimpses of previous form (Serena winning Miami for the third straight time, her comeback event, and later in the year on the day of her 23rd birthday in Beijing, while Venus won in Charleston and Warsaw), the road back from injury proved to be a gruelling one. Both girls dropped outside the Top 10 for the first time in over five years, but by season's end they had fought their way back in. Season 2005 began with the hope that the sisters might reclaim their places at the upper-echelons of the sport with Serena's stirring come from behind wins to defeat Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and world No.1 Lindsay Davenport to win her first Grand Slam title in 18 months at the Australian Open. Venus too defeated old rival Kim Clijsters and French Open champion Anastasia Myskina to reach the final of the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, before narrowly losing out to No.2 Amelie Mauresmo after serving for the diamond racquet at 64 53. But while tennis has remained the central focus, the sisters have branched out into other areas of endeavor. Both are heavily involved in fashion (Serena with her ANERES label, and Venus with the Venus Collection by Wilson's Leather), while Serena has tested her acting skills in several television series and movies, and Venus has started up her own interior design company, V Starr Interiors. Whatever happens in the next few years, the Williams sisters have left a truly indelible mark on the sport and whenever they take to the courts it promises to be colourful, powerful, trend -setting, athletic and exciting. --

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