Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williamsis an American professional tennis player, who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 6 in singles as of July 25, 2016. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first black American woman to achieve this feat during the Open Era...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth17 June 1980
CityLynwood, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I think that Billie (Jean King) and Zina (Garrison), they have a whole lot of experience. Even if I don't quite agree with something or have a different way of doing it this week, whatever they said, I did it right away and I found out that it was correct. I think that's helped a lot...I'm having fun. I had a lot of fun out there. Sometimes I was ready to smile -- but I knew I'd lose focus -- because I was doing things that I'd done in practice and we talked about. I was ready to laugh and give someone a high-five, but it wasn't time for that.
Tennis is a huge part of my life, but I don't base my self-value or my self-worth or the quality of my life on my results on the court.
Well, when I walk behind short people I feel like I'm going to fall over because I start taking these little steps, and I can't take little steps.
My motto has always been that you can't say, 'Oh, it won't happen to me.' You have to say, 'That can happen to me.' So always be aware that things can happen.
So what if you fail? At least you'll know what not to do when you try again.
I don't want to give anyone an edge in my mind. Every time I walk out on the court, I have to feel I'm the best so I can compete well. A lot of times, my chief rival is just me.
The naysayers, they don't mean a thing.
Tennis is mostly mental. You win or lose the match before you even go out there.
I believe I live in a black and white. I think things are like either black or white. I don't really believe that much in the gray. I think that there's gray for a lot of people, but I don't live in the gray. I realize whatever action I have or take, it's going to have a consequence -- either good or bad. So I live my life in a way where I don't have bad consequences. I just notice there's a lot people around me just live in the gray. I don't know, for me, I'm just really straightforward.
I can walk around fine, but I don't have a desk job.
I truly believe that whoever feels the most confident is usually the one to win.
I guess it's a little bit sentimental, but at the time I was really very focused in on really my performance. Afterwards, it was really just a breath of fresh air, just like, 'Oh, yes, I'm back now. I'm doing good.'
I guess some kids around me had to grow up quickly, had all those problems. But I wasn't one of those kids, or around those kids, not at all.
Everybody's got their problems. The important thing is not to complain about it.