(C) Getty Images
Today is the 26th episode of Sister Act in
Wimbledon’s 4th round. Venus will try to close the gap on her kid sister
Serena, who leads 14-11. Strangely enough, not many people seem to care, while their
contemporary Federer is hailed. That seems somewhat unwarranted, to use a
British understatement.
Serena has won this year’s Aussie and French open
and is just two Grand Slams shy of Steffi Graf’s impressive record of 22
victories. Venus, also a fivefold Wimbledon singles champion has even made a
bigger contribution to the sport than her already legendary sister. In other
words, these two great athletes deserve far more merit than they are given.
The girl from da hood
(c)smh.com.au
September 6, 1997, Flushing Meadow, New York City.
16 year old Martina Hingis, then already twofold Grand Slam winner, faces a newcomer
in the finals. A 6.1 ft. 17 year old, every now and then somewhat unpoised girl
was the first debutant in 19 years to reach the finals. Where women were known
for their technical skills and serve volley gameplay, this teenager added an
unprecedented ingredient; mental and physical power. She was the first of the
female sluggers. Ah yes, she also was an African American from the hood,
Compton to be precise, and her beaded hair was one of her trademarks.
It was the era of movies like Boyz in the Hood, and
Menace II Society, as well as many a rap song, describing the harsh
circumstances in the Ghetto’s, or Projects. People from those neighborhoods
were stereotyped as foul mouthing, gun wielding, uneducated specimen, who’d be
easily provoked, and were incapable of expressing civilized behavior.
Although Althea Gibson was the first African
American woman to win Grand Slams, French Open in 1956 and Wimbledon and the US
Open one year later, the establishment was not very happy with the rise of this
new starlet. Venus Williams was different in every aspect. The introvert girl
didn’t play tennis to blend in. She was who she was, and felt no need for
humbleness as she had nothing to be ashamed of.
She played because she wanted to win Grand Slams,
and one in particular; Wimbledon. Unlike her predecessors, she stood up for
herself when necessary, but not in the way one would expect from a Compton girl.
In the semifinals, Irina Spirlea willingly bumped into her during a changeover,
later unjustly blaming Williams. Where Spirlea said after the match:
Q. Can you tell us about the collision at the changeover
chair at 4-3 in the second set? What was that all about?
IRINA SPIRLEA: I'm not going to move. I mean, she's never
trying to turn or whatever. She thinks she's the fucking Venus Williams. She
not going to turn. She just went like this. I was like, "I want to see if
she's turning." She didn't, so.
Venus
replied:
"I thought we both weren't looking. I'm sorry she feels
that way. It's not a big thing to me. No one said 'Excuse me'
This reply would be
the first of many examples, where she would demonstrate not only great
restrain, dignity and intelligence, but she’d also clarified that people couldn’t
be generalized, nor stereotyped.
(c) theroot.com
It wouldn’t be the
last debatable incident. Two years later, during the Australian Open quarter finals,
a strand of beads fell out of her hair, bouncing off behind her baseline. She
was penalized for hindrance. Nobody suffered from the incident, especially not
Lindsay Davenport, although she claimed otherwise after the game, actually
ridiculing Williams’ hairstyle, and hence sending a message: you don’t belong
here. Because by then, it already had become clear that this teenager formed a
threat not only for the players, but for the elite game of tennis as a whole.
Venus fought against her tears, the dubious call, the umpire, Davenport and her own emotions. With admirable restraint, she kept herself together, managing the
raging storm in her body.
After losing the set,
and the game, she once again received confirmation that for her, still being
referred to as ‘the Girl from the Hood’, the only way to overcome questionable
behavior by others, was to win. Venus, according to Billy Jean King, is a thinker,
a somewhat introvert person who likes to contemplate before making a decision,
or a move. When Davenport grinningly mentioned that she was distracted and
Venus should stick to the rules, the oldest William’s replied gracefully, and
confirmed Davenport’s words. In fact Davenport unwillingly gave Venus the final
push.
Game of Thrones
One year later, a
stunning looking, beadless Venus appeared on the Tour. Having improved her
game, she firmly kicked in the established door of tennis, by winning both
Wimbledon, and the US Open. It not only
made her an on court power house, but off court, she signed a 5 year
endorsement with Reebok, earning her US$ 40,000,000. Overnight, at the age of
twenty, she became the richest female athlete in the world.
Being catapulted into
stardom, she trained less, as she believed her talent and power were unmatched.
However, she was also in the transition from girl to woman. She won Wimbledon
that year, and dominated the circuit with her younger sister Serena, who would
beat her in the 2002 and 2003 Wimbledon finals. On February 25, 2002, she
ranked as the world’s #1.
Although Venus deliberates
about many things before she acts, she didn’t pay enough attention to the
signals sent from her less trained and therefore overburdened body. A series of
injuries were weighed down by the violent death of her sister Yetunde in 2003,
and she was written off after a two year draught.
But Venus’s father
Richard, unlike other sports parents, had always intended to maintain the balance
between becoming a professional athlete, and living a normal life. He had
prepared his kids for the unreasonable challenges they would have to face,
because plain and simple, they were black. Martina Hingis once mentioned that
the Williams sisters used that to their advantage, although she didn’t’ care to
explain how they were doing that.
A new challenge
While getting back on
her top game, Venus had changed in other ways. The once shy girl had become a
solid soul, and interacted with other players on the Tour. She also decided to
pick up where longtime friend Billy Jean King had stopped; the fight for equal
prize money.
Women were paid less
than men during Grand Slams, except for the US Open, a feat that bothered many.
After all tennis is one of the rare occasions where men and women compete on
the same stage and draw equal crowds, especially after Venus’ entrance on the
Tour had radically changed the women’s game. More and more women had added the
power strokes to their repertoire, making women games equally interesting to
watch. Yet many men still didn’t take them seriously, for several reasons. Some
feared for their masculinity, others lacked intelligence, while others
preferred to keep up their macho image. Whatever the reasons may have been,
women were met with some disdain.
In 2005 Venus once
again had experienced how she was seen, by playing her Wimbledon matches on the
country courts on the complex. Mentally tougher than ever, she fought her way
to what would become a legendary final against fierce rival Davenport, with
whom she didn’t get along at all. However,
on Friday July 1, 2005, the evening prior to her final, she had another
engagement.
She was invited to
come to a Wimbledon board meeting. Given the fact that the timing was at best
unfavorable, everybody was surprised when she not only showed up, but gave an
inspiring speech. She asked all present to close their eyes, and imagine a
little girl, making the same sacrifices as the boys, working equally hard to
achieve what the boys achieve, only to find out that her efforts are not
equally valued, because of her gender.
The next day, she was
part of the longest women’s final in Wimbledon history, beating Davenport, and
reclaiming the throne.
Yet, Wimbledon denied
her call for equal prize money, as they wouldn’t have enough dough to buy
petunia’s, as one Wimbledon official said, without blinking his eyes.
Wimbledon has justified treating women as
second class because we do more for the tournament. The argument goes that
the top women – who are more likely also to play doubles matches than their
male peers – earn more than the top men if you count singles, doubles and mixed
doubles prize money. So the more we support the tournament, the more unequally
we should be treated! But doubles and mixed doubles are separate events from
the singles competition. Is Wimbledon suggesting that, if the top women
withdrew from the doubles events, that then we would deserve equal prize money
in singles? And how then does the All England Club explain why the pot of
women's doubles prize money is nearly £130,000 smaller than the men's doubles
prize money?
However, the
institution overplayed their hand the following year, by paying Amelie Mauresmo
only 30.000 GBP less than Roger Federer. That was the final nail in Wimbledon's
sexist coffin. The matter reached British parliament, and Prime Minister Tony
Blair agreed with the critics. One year later, Wimbledon, after being harshly
criticized by the British public, gave in.
Venus Williams would
win Wimbledon in 2007, being the first to enjoy the equal pay, and in 2008. One
year later she lost her last grand slam final to her sister Serena.
New struggles, but still going strong
(c( New Yotk Times
July 2015, 35 year
old Venus is still going strong, after being diagnosed with an incurable auto
immune disease Sjörgen’s syndrome in 2011, a disease that attacks moisture
producing glands, and a nasty back injury two years later. She played 14 grand
slam finals, on all four tournaments, winning 7, Wimbledon (5), and the US Open twice.
Where great players
like Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova never
spoke about equal pay, Venus did. And even though women in tennis owe her the
fact that she achieved gender equality, it is not widely known, nor is she
appreciated. She not only paved the way for her successful sister. She not only
paved the way for other African American tennis players. She gave what women in
general deserve; gender equality.
After all, Wimbledon,
stronghold of conservative values was brought down to its knees by a girl from
the hood. She didn’t use violence, nor did she threaten, or insult anybody.
Venus Williams used her status as a top player, an unswerving character and a
beautiful mind that had withstood many dubious moments with a seldom seen
dignity.
As far as I am
concerned, Venus and Serena should be cherished for their achievements, both on-
and off court. After all, they embody the ‘what you see is what you get’ spirit;
a rare quality in people. Although both Venus, and her sister prefer to be ‘a
continuum in moving forward’, we, sports fans, are allowed to look back at
their impressive careers, as well as enjoy todays clash, and what comes after
that.
