Famous Players : Men

Famous Players : Women

Famous Tennis Players

Venus Williams

Venus Ebone Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is a former World No. 1 tennis player, born in Lynwood, California. She is the daughter of Richard and Oracene Williams and the older sister of another tennis player, Serena Williams.
Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994. In the second round of her first professional tournament in Oakland, Williams was up a set and a service break against top ranked Arantxa Sanchez Vicario before losing the match. That was the only tournament Williams played in 1994. She remained a part time player on the tour during the next two years, playing only three tournaments in 1995 and five tournaments in 1996. Williams began to play regularly on the tour in 1997. The highlight of her year was playing the U.S. Open for the first time, where she lost in the final to Martina Hingis 6-0, 6-4 after defeating Irina Spirlea in a three-set semifinal. In 1998, Williams teamed with Justin Gimelstob to win the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her sister Serena Williams won the other two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles of the year, completing a "Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam." In 1999, Williams won the tournament in Miami, defeating Jana Novotna, Steffi Graf, and her sister Serena Williams in successive matches. Venus and Serena teamed to win the doubles titles at the French Open and the U.S. Open, becoming the first sister team to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the 20th century.
In 2000, Williams won the singles title at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The Williams sisters also won the Wimbledon doubles title for the first time. Williams successfully defended her Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in 2001. At the U.S. Open, Williams won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Lindsay Davenport in the final 6-4, 7-5. The Williams sisters won the Australian Open doubles title for the first time, completing a career Grand Slam in doubles for the pair. In February 2002, Williams became the top ranked player in the world, the first African American player to garner that spot since the computer rankings began in 1975. The Willliams sisters won the Wimbledon doubles title for the second time in 2002.
Beginning with the 2002 French Open and extending through Wimbledon in 2003, Venus reached the final in five Grand Slam singles tournaments, losing all of them to her sister Serena.
Williams lost surprisingly in the first round of the Australian Open to Tszvetana Pironkova 2-6, 6-0, 9-7. It was Williams' earliest loss at that tournament. Williams was out of action from January 16 until April 30 because of injuries. She reached the quarterfinals at the J&S Cup in Warsaw, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova. She then lost to Martina Hingis in a semifinal of the Italian Open, after defeating Jelena Jankovic and Patty Schnyder in earlier rounds. Williams ended her clay court season with a French Open quarterfinal loss to Nicole Vaidisova 6-7, 6-1, 6-3. Williams competed at Wimbledon as one of the favorites to win the title. She survived a scare against fellow American Lisa Raymond in the second round when Williams was two points from defeat. Williams then lost in the third round to 26th seeded Jankovic 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-4. Williams did not play in the U.S. Open series or the U.S. Open itself due to a recurring wrist injury. During her first tournament in almost three months, she reinjured her wrist in Luxembourg and lost in the second round.

Grand Slam singles finals