Tennis legend Serena Williams, who is also regarded as the ‘King of WTA’ has come surfing through miles and miles of struggles without her family having the presence of any financial backing. The former world No. 1 has manifested and notched under her belt achievements tennis professionals could only fathom.
Williams first held a tennis racquet when she was 5 years old. Serena was trained under the supervision of her father Richard Williams who in turn was inspired by Virginia Ruzici’s performance.
Her first-ever appearance in a tennis tournament came at the age of 8, which at the time went against the wishes of her father as the tournament Serena signed up for was supposedly her sister Venus Williams’ debut tournament.
The American icon’s journey is full of ups and downs considering her African-American background which made her go through turbulence of struggles in her years of competing in the WTA Tour.
When did Serena Williams start training?
Serena Williams first started training when she was merely 3 three years old. Her practice lessons began on a court near her home in Campton, California.
It was her father Richard Williams who was largely responsible for Williams’ training and took the assistance of public courts to train her rigorously every day.
Both the Williams sisters spent long hours practicing and training under their father Richard and the family, in 1991, moved to Florida so both Serena and Venus could get professional training at the Florida Tennis Academy.
However, her professional journey wouldn’t start until 1995 and in 1999 she won her first Grand Slam championship, bagging the US Open singles title by defeating the Swiss legend Martina Hingis.
Later to her adding the Flushing Meadows title under her belt, she won the Wimbledon title defeating her sister Venus Williams in the final.
Did Serena Williams’ father play Tennis?
Serena Williams’ exquisite recognition and a big name in tennis today are owed to the efforts put in by her father Richard Williams since the early stages of her life.
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Richard Williams played tennis for a few years of his life and later became a tennis instructor and coach however, tennis as a sport wasn’t what attracted him in the first place.
Things took a drastic turn when Richard first saw a French Open match on television and found out the prize money it offered was more than what he earned in the entire year, reportedly $40,000.
Serena Williams’ daughter already has her racquet
5-month-old Olympia Ohanian despite learning how to walk has her hands full with her tennis racquet determined to follow in her mom’s footsteps, like a daughter-like mother!
Olympia, who was born in 2017 in an adorable photo can be seen holding her very own Wilson tennis racquet which doesn’t comes as a surprise as the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena is officially sponsored by Wilson.
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It seems more than just usual speculation if one thinks about the American icon’s daughter choosing her field career in tennis, unlike her mother shortly, after all, Olympia has one of the best athletes of all time to support and guide her.
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