Venus Williams was born in 1980 in Los Angeles, California. Her father's name is Richard Williams. He is Venus' and her sister Serena's, Coach and Manager. He taught all his daughters to play tennis at the age of 4. Venus 6-foot-1½ and weights 169 lbs.
In 1998 she was the only unseeded player to reach the quarterfinals of 1998 Australian Open. She won her first singles title by topping Joannette Kruger in the finals of the IGA Tennis Classic. Her WTA ranking jumped to No. 12, and she won her second career singles title by beating Anna Kournikova in an all-teen final at the Lipton Championships.
In 1999 she, with her sister Serena, became the first sisters to win a Grand Slam crown together in the 20th century, by winning the French Open doubles title. In 2000 she won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon by defeating Lindsay Davenport. Davenport faced her again in the U.S. Open final and fell in straight sets, giving Venus her second Slam.
At the Sydney Olympics, she was the first woman to win a gold in singles and doubles (with sister Serena) since 1924. In 2001 she defended her title at New Haven by beating Justine Henin, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport the week before the U.S. Open. She then successfully defended her Wimbledon title by defeating Belgian teenager Justine Henin and predicted that Wimbledon would be a great place for her for years to come.
