Venus Williams, the sturdy slugger with a beautiful mind

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Today is the 26^th 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

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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.

Australian Open 1999

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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

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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 

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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.

Right before the start of the 2006 tournament, Venus wrote a letter to The Times, in which she thrashed the tournament’s approach of women, but in a very dignified way. A fragment reads:

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

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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.