Venus Williams

Williams, Venus (1980) Eldest of two professional tennis playing sisters. Venus and Serena (1981– ) shot to fame in the 1990s with a series of high-profile wins. In 1997 Venus became the first unseeded woman to reach the final of the US Open, and the first African-American woman to do so since Althea Gibson in 1958. Venus has won Wimbledon twice (2000 and 2001) and the US Open once (2001). Serena Williams has won twice at the US Open (1999 and 2002), and twice at Wimbledon (2002 and 2003).

Venus Williams (Venus Ebone Starr Williams), 1980-, b. Lynwood, Calif., and Serena Williams, 1981-, b. Saginaw, Mich., African-American tennis players. Coached by their father, Richard, both sisters turned professional early, but neither played regularly until the late 1990s, when they began to dominate women's singles tennis with their power games. They have also teamed as winning doubles partners.

Venus turned pro at 14, reached the finals of the U.S. Open in 1997, and won her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles championship in 1998. She captured her first Grand Slam events in 2000, winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as the Olympic gold medal in women's singles. In 2001, Venus successfully defended her Wimbledon and U.S. titles. In the U.S. Open she defeated Serena in the first sisters' championship since 1884; it was the first time that two African-Americans competed for the title. Venus won Wimbledon again in 2005, 2007, and 2008, when she again faced her sister in the final.

Serena turned pro in 1995, and four years later she won her first WTA singles title. The same year she captured her first Grand Slam event, winning the U.S. Open. During the next two years Venus was in the ascendancy, but in 2002 Serena bested her older sister three times to win the French and U.S. opens and Wimbledon. In 2003, Serena defeated Venus to win her first Australian Open and second Wimbledon titles. Serena won the Australian Open again in 2005 and 2007 and the U.S. Open in 2008.