Richard Williams (tennis)
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Richard Williams (born 1942) is an American tennis coach. He is best known for being the father of Serena and Venus Williams, both former World No.1 tennis players and multi-grand slam winners.
[edit] Biography
Richard Williams met his wife, Oracene, when both were young. In 1979, the couple got married and lived in Lansing, Michigan. Oracene had three daughters with her former husband, Yusef Rasheed. Richard also had children from a former marriage.
Richard and Oracene eventually moved west, settling in the Los Angeles Compton area; Richard Williams would later make public his pride in having lived in Compton.
Richard Williams is said to have dreamed of a better future for his five daughters, and wanted at least one of them to succeed in sports. He began to take his daughters to Compton public tennis courts, where, according to his daughters' accounts, they had to get down on the ground one time to avoid bullets fired during an apparent drive-by.[citation needed]
Williams soon got his daughters into California tennis tournaments. But the Williamses reportedly suffered racism while competing in California.[citation needed] That experience may[citation needed] have prompted some of the outspoken comments Williams would later on make to the media.
As 2000 began, Venus Williams was recovering from tendinitis on both wrists. She was forced to stay out of the women's tennis tour for almost half of the year. According to Venus Williams, she and her father spent most of their time watching Zorro on television at home.[citation needed]
Richard and Venus Williams went back on the road, flying to France for that year's French Open. Soon after, they went to England for the Wimbledon competition.
After his daughter's victory over Davenport, Williams jumped over the NBC broadcasting booth, catching Chris Evert by surprise and performing a triumphant dance. Evert said that the broadcasters "thought the roof was coming down". He displayed his pride in having lived in Compton by shouting Straight out of Compton! after the match was over.
On March 26, 2001, Venus and Serena Williams experienced problems with the organizers, referees and some fans at the Indian Wells, California tennis tournament. Richard Williams told CNN that the boos by a large group of fans towards his daughters were motivated by racism. These comments proved controversial, and such outlets as Sports Illustrated spoke about them for many months after he declared them. Among the controversial comments he made were the following:
- It's the worst act of prejudice I've seen since they killed Martin Luther King
- That's the hardest time in the world I've ever had
- There are those that ask me what I think of intermarriage. Anyone that's marrying outside of this race that's black should be hung by their necks at sundown [1]
- I'll never go to Indian Wells again, because I believe that guy would skin me alive
- The girls (the Williams sisters' competitors) that play professional tennis are always saying something about me. The only way those girls get their names in the paper, they would have to say something about me. Otherwise, no one would write about them..
- Richard Williams has never been able to come foward with any proof of racism. It was announced that Venus Williams withdrew from the semifinal match at the last moment due to injury. Serena Williams was reportedly prepared to play the match and was surprised by the default. Speculation of a match fix and disappointment over the cancellation left many fans disappointed since they had paid money to see the top players play in the finals. The fans felt as if they had been robbed out of their hard earned money. By 2008, when both sisters still refused to play the mandatory Indian Wells event after the 2001 controversey, Richard Williams went on to say "Well, I'm black and I'm prejudiced, very prejudiced". He is also quoted as saying "But if you get some little white no-good trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert, who cannot hit the ball, they (the media) will claim this is great". [2]
On September 14, 2003, Richard Williams suffered tragedy, as his stepdaughter, Yetunde Price, was shot to death while riding in a car with her boyfriend in Compton.
[edit] Footnotes
Larry Scott said Thursday that he strongly disagrees with comments made by Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus, regarding racism on the women’s tour.
Saying he was disappointed by Williams’ recent remarks during an interview in India.
While his daughters were playing earlier this month in Bangladore, India, where Venus reached the semifinals, losing to her sister Serena who won the title, Williams told the Deccan Herald,
He said the media treated his daughters unfairly, that it was “the worst media job that they have done on any human being in the world,” and that if he were Serena and Venus, he would have quit playing.
Scott said, “Champions like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin have done so much to help build women’s tennis to where it is today, and it is regrettable that anyone would criticize them in this manner.”How did it affect you and your family? It didn't affect us. We were trained for something like that. Tennis is a prejudice game. Well, I'm Black and I'm prejudiced, very prejudiced. I'll be always prejudiced toward the White man.
The White man hated me all my life and I hate him. That's no secret. I'm not even an American, it just so happens that I was born in America.
People are prejudiced in tennis. I don't think Venus or Serena was ever accepted by tennis. They never will be. But if you get some little no good White trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert who cannot hit the ball, they will claim this is great."
