Venus and Serena Williams’ father Richard once made an important observation about the short attention span of the US audiences when it came to tennis achievements. He used this insight point to reveal the valuable lesson he had taught his daughters.
Despite her remarkable tennis success, Serena Williams never shied away from exploring her interests outside tennis, from making cameos in TV shows and attending Hollywood premieres to designing her own fashion line.
However, this caused the American to face backlash during a slump in form and absence from the tour in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Chris Evert even penned an open letter to Williams, accusing her of letting distractions “tarnish her legacy.” She also questioned “how acting and designing clothes can compare with the pride of being the best tennis player in the world.”
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Serena eventually made a powerful comeback by triumphing at the 2007 Australian Open. In an interview with the New York Times ahead of the US Open later that year, her father Richard Williams opened up about how he had always encouraged his daughters to find meaning beyond tennis. He asserted that American audiences only cared about the most recent champions, even disregarding the previous year's winners.
"If someone asked you today who won Wimbledon in 1885, do you know? Do you care? Americans only care about who won this year. They don't even care who won last year. My daughters were taught that there's a life beyond the base line," he said.
Interestingly, Richard Williams once even said that he wanted Venus and Serena Williams to retire from professional tennis in their early 20s and head to college. He shared his plans for them to set up successful businesses by the time they were 26 years old because he "didn't want a couple of gum-chewing illiterates on his hands" after they hung up their rackets.
"Just lazy, and having fun and doing the Hollywood thing and just enjoying it" - Serena Williams' mother Oracene on her daughter's well-deserved break
After Serena Williams' triumph at the 2007 Australian Open, her mother Oracene Price offered a thoughtful perspective on the American's decision to explore new opportunities during her hiatus from tennis.
In an interview with the New York Times, Price pointed out that both Venus and Serena had devoted their lives to the sport from a very young age. As such, she felt that her daughter had more than earned the right to indulge her Hollywood interests and just be lazy for once.
"Just lazy, and having fun and doing the Hollywood thing and just enjoying it. Because when you think about it, she and Venus were on the court since they were 4 years old. They needed a little break," Price said.
Serena Williams echoed her mother's sentiments, revealing that her injury issues gave her the chance to enjoy a mental break, which she "desperately needed."
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