47 Fun Facts About Venus Williams

How many Grand Slam singles titles has Venus Williams won?

Seven: five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. It could have been double that, as her own sister beat her in seven other major finals.

Which 15-year-old qualifier beat Venus in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019?

Coco Gauff, ranked 313th, won 6-4, 6-4 and said she cried after a win for the first time. Venus had won four major titles before Gauff was even born.

On which city's public courts did Venus and her sister learn tennis?

Compton: her father moved the family there on purpose when Venus was a toddler, believing a rough neighbourhood would give his daughters a fighter's mentality. She was born in nearby Lynwood.

To which state did Venus's family move in 1991 so she and her sister could train with coach Rick Macci?

Florida: Rick Macci coached both sisters there from 1991 to 1995, until their father, who had taught himself the game from books and videos, took over the job again.

Unbeaten in 63 junior matches, Venus did what for three years before turning professional?

Played no tournaments: her father pulled her off the junior circuit at 11, partly to spare her early pressure. Her 1994 debut in Oakland was her first official match in over three years, and she won it.

Who beat the 17-year-old Venus in her first major final, the 1997 US Open?

Martina Hingis won the final, but Venus was the story: unseeded, on her US Open debut. In the semi-final Irina Spîrlea bumped into her at a changeover.

At the 1999 Australian Open, Venus was docked a point when what fell onto the court?

Her hair beads: some came loose during a point in her quarter-final, and the umpire docked her a point for causing a disturbance. She protested that the call was unfair, and went on to lose the match.

In 1998 Venus and her sister won all four Grand Slam titles between them in which event?

Mixed doubles: Venus won the Australian and French Opens with Justin Gimelstob, beating her own sister's team in the Paris final, and her sister then took Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi.

Whom did Venus beat in the final to win her first major singles title at Wimbledon 2000?

Lindsay Davenport was the defending champion, while Venus had played only nine matches all year after tendinitis in both wrists. She became the first Black woman to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958.

Which Russian did Venus beat in the 2000 Sydney Olympic singles final?

Elena Dementieva lost 6-2, 6-4. A day later Venus won the doubles with her sister, becoming the first woman since Helen Wills in 1924 to take both golds at one Games.

Venus's father wrote a plan for his daughters' tennis careers after seeing what on television?

A winner's prize cheque: her father saw a tennis champion handed a five-figure sum and decided his next children would be players too. By his account, he wrote the plan before Venus was even born.

At which 2001 tournament was the family booed after Venus withdrew shortly before a semi-final against her sister?

Indian Wells: Venus pulled out with a knee injury just before the match, and the crowd jeered the family at the final. Her sister stayed away for 14 years and Venus for 15.

What does Venus mean when she jokingly calls herself a 'chegan'?

A cheating vegan: she switched to a mostly raw, plant-based diet for her health after an autoimmune diagnosis, but admits she is only human and sometimes strays.

Whom did Venus displace to become No. 1 in 2002?

Jennifer Capriati had kept the top spot by winning the Australian Open, but Venus then won titles in Paris and Antwerp in successive weeks to overtake her.

Venus lost four straight major finals in 2002–03, a winning run nicknamed what?

Serena Slam: her younger sister beat her in four finals in a row, from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open, and so held all four major titles at once.

Venus's 2005 final set which Wimbledon record for women's finals?

Longest match: it ran two and three-quarter hours, and Venus, seeded only 14th, saved a match point before taking the deciding set 9-7.

As the 23rd seed, Venus beat which Frenchwoman in the 2007 Wimbledon final?

Marion Bartoli had stunned world No. 1 Justine Henin in the semi-final, saying the sight of Pierce Brosnan in the crowd made her raise her game. Venus beat her in straight sets.

Venus held which women's tour record from 2007 until Sabine Lisicki broke it in 2014?

Fastest serve: she hit 129 mph at the 2007 US Open. The 131 mph serve that beat it came in a first-round match Lisicki went on to lose.

Venus won five Wimbledon singles titles, each time receiving a trophy that shares her name: the Venus Rosewater what?

Dish: the Venus Rosewater Dish was first presented in 1886, almost a century before she was born, and its decoration shows figures from classical mythology, not tennis. Champions keep a smaller replica.

In 2025, at 45, Venus became the oldest woman to win a tour singles match since which player in 2004?

Martina Navratilova won a match at 47 in 2004. Venus, listed by the tour as inactive until that week after surgery and 16 months away, beat a player 22 years her junior in Washington.

Which first did Venus achieve in June 2010?

Doubles world No. 1: she and her sister had just won the French Open, their fourth major doubles title in a row, so they held all four at once.

What autoimmune condition forced Venus out of the 2011 US Open?

Sjögren syndrome saps energy and makes joints ache, and she withdrew before her second-round match. She changed her diet and, six years later, reached two major finals.

How many Olympic gold medals has Venus won?

Four: singles and doubles in 2000, then doubles again in 2008 and 2012, all three with her sister. She never lost an Olympic final until 2016, when a silver in the mixed event became her fifth medal.

With whom did Venus win Olympic mixed doubles silver in 2016?

Rajeev Ram and Venus lost an all-American final to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock on a deciding tie-break. It was the first Olympic final she had ever lost.

What links Venus's 14 major doubles finals with her sister?

All won: 14 finals, 14 titles, six of them at Wimbledon. The last came in 2016, a few hours after her sister had won the singles final there.

Venus's run to the 2017 Australian Open final set what Open era record?

Longest gap between major finals: her last had been at Wimbledon in 2009. In between, an energy-sapping autoimmune illness diagnosed in 2011 had forced her out of the US Open.

Who beat Venus in the 2017 Wimbledon final?

Garbiñe Muguruza saved two set points at 4-5 in the first set and then won the last nine games, taking the second set 6-0. Venus, 37, had been one point from leading the final.

Which unseeded American beat Venus in the 2017 US Open semi-final and went on to win the title?

Sloane Stephens had been ranked 957th only weeks earlier after foot surgery and 11 months out, and took the deciding set 7-5. All four semi-finalists that year were American.

Venus's 2006 newspaper essay, headlined 'I'm only a second class champion', pushed Wimbledon to grant what?

Equal prize money was announced in February 2007, eight months after her essay ran in The Times. She won the title that summer and was the first woman paid the same as the men's champion.

In 2025 Mattel marked Venus's 2007 Wimbledon win with which product?

A Barbie doll in Mattel's Inspiring Women series wears her all-white kit from that final. Offered any outfit from her career, she chose the year Wimbledon first paid women the same as men.

Which filmmaker, soon to direct 'Selma', made the 2013 ESPN documentary 'Venus Vs.'?

Ava DuVernay wrote and directed it as the opening film of ESPN's Nine for IX series, saying the campaign was a vital story that had gone unheard. She was hired for 'Selma' days after it aired.

Which world No. 203 beat both Williams sisters in a 1998 'Battle of the Sexes'?

Karsten Braasch warmed up with a round of golf and a few drinks, then beat her sister 6–1 and Venus 6–2 in one afternoon. The teenagers had said they could beat any man ranked outside the top 200.

What is the name of Venus's interior design firm?

V Starr, founded in 2002, designed Airbnb's first apartment complex. When her sister moved out after two decades of sharing a home, the firm designed the new house too.

What is the name of Venus's fashion line, launched in 2007?

EleVen launched through the retailer Steve & Barry's and became her own match kit, so for years she walked on court in clothes she had designed herself.

The Williams sisters became minority owners of which NFL team in 2009?

Miami Dolphins were the sisters' local team, and new owner Stephen Ross was selling small stakes to celebrities. The club billed them as the first African-American women to part-own an NFL franchise.

Venus co-chaired which 2026 fashion event alongside Beyoncé and Nicole Kidman?

The Met Gala theme was costume as art, so she arrived in a crystal gown modelled on a portrait of herself commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.

In what subject did Venus earn an associate degree in 2007?

Fashion design: she studied at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale at the height of her career, and launched her own clothing label in the year she graduated.

Venus's dress at the 2010 French Open was likened to the costume of which Paris performers?

Can-can dancers came to mind because of the black-and-red lace, corset top and tutu-style skirt. She said lace had never been done in tennis, and that the skin-toned layer underneath was about an illusion of bareness.

In 2000 Venus signed a reported $40 million deal, then called the richest ever for a female athlete, with which brand?

Reebok's five-year offer followed a 35-match winning streak that took in Wimbledon, the US Open and Olympic gold. Its marketing chief would not deny the reported figure.

In which religion was Venus raised?

Jehovah's Witness: her mother converted in the 1980s and raised her daughters in the faith, which involves door-to-door preaching and no birthday celebrations.

Which actor did Venus marry twice in 2025?

Andrea Preti married her on the island of Ischia in September, but she said there was no time for the paperwork a foreigner needs in Italy, so they wed again in Palm Beach in December.

On which 2021 film about her family was Venus an executive producer?

King Richard only carried the sisters' names as executive producers after they had watched the finished film. Will Smith won his first Oscar for playing their father.

What did Venus, 45, joke she had come back to the tour for in 2025?

Health insurance was her on-court answer: she said she had been told that year she was on COBRA cover, and joked that she is always at the doctor's.

What record did Venus extend at the 2026 Australian Open?

Most Grand Slam singles tournaments played: no man or woman has entered more majors. At 45 she led 4-0 in the deciding set of her first-round match before losing the next six games.

Which player, back after having a baby, ended Venus's 15-match winning streak in the 2010 Miami final?

Kim Clijsters needed only 58 minutes, winning 6-2, 6-1 for her third title since returning to the tour as a mother. Venus had won her two previous tournaments.

Which of Venus's half-sisters was killed in a 2003 shooting?

Yetunde Price, who was 31, worked as the sisters' personal assistant. They later opened a community centre in her name.

Venus's opponent in the 2017 Australian Open final was, it later emerged, what?

Eight weeks pregnant: her sister let it slip that April by accidentally posting a Snapchat photo captioned '20 weeks', which meant she had won the title while expecting.