Richard Williams was one of six children and the only son of Julia Mae Williams of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Richard Williams graduated from high school, moved to Chicago, and eventually to California, where he met Betty Johnson, whom he married in 1965. They had three daughters and three sons before divorcing in 1973. In 1979 Williams met Oracene Price, who had three daughters by her late husband. They married in 1980 after Venus was born, and lived for a time in Saginaw, Michigan, but eventually moved to Compton.
He took tennis lessons from a man known as “Old Whiskey” and decided his future daughters would be tennis professionals when he saw Virginia Ruzici playing on television. Williams says that he wrote up a 78-page plan, and started giving lessons to Venus and Serena when they were four and a half, and began taking them to the public tennis courts. (He now says he feels like he took them too early, and six is a better age.) Soon he got them into Shreveport tennis tournaments. In 1995, Williams pulled them out of a tennis academy, and coached them himself.
| Coaching career (1994–) | |
|---|---|
| Coaching achievements | |
| Coached Singles Titles total | 45(V)-64(S) (109 titles) |
| Coached(s) Doubles Titles total | 21(S-V)-2(V)-5(S) (28 titles) |
| List of notable tournaments (with champion)
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RICHARD WILLIAMS COACHING Records and achievement RESULTS FOR SERENA AND VENUS:
- These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.
- Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
- Records in italics are currently active streaks.
VENUS’S ACHIEVEMENTS UNDER RICHARD WILLIAMS
| Championship | Years | Record accomplished | Player tied |
| 1997 French Open – 2017 Wimbledon | 1997–2017 | Most appearances (75) in Grand Slam singles draw | Stands alone |
| 1999 French Open – 2016 Wimbledon | 1999–2016 | First 14 Grand Slam doubles finals won (with Serena Williams) | Serena Williams |
| 2002 French Open – 2003 Australian Open | 2002–2003 | Four consecutive runner-up finishes | Stands alone |
| 2002 French Open – 2003 Australian Open | 2002–2003 | Four consecutive runner-up finishes to the same player (Serena Williams) | Stands alone |
| 2000 Wimbledon – 2017 Wimbledon | 2000–2017 | 17 years between first and last final | Stands alone |
| Wimbledon | 2005 | Longest women’s singles final | Lindsay Davenport |
| Wimbledon | 2007 | Lowest-ranked champion (31st) | Stands alone |
| Wimbledon | 2007 | Lowest-seeded champion (23rd) | Stands alone |
| Wimbledon | 2008 | Fastest serve by a woman (129 mph) | Stands alone |
| US Open | 2007 | Fastest serve by a woman (129 mph) | Stands alone |
| Summer Olympics | 2000–2012 | 4 Olympic gold medals | Serena Williams |
| Summer Olympics | 2000–2012 | 3 doubles Olympic gold medals (with Serena Williams) | Serena Williams |
| Summer Olympics | 2000–2016 | Most Olympic medals won by a male or female player (5) | Kathleen McKane Godfree |
| Summer Olympics | 2000–2016 | Has won an Olympic medal in all three events (singles, doubles & mixed) | Kathleen McKane Godfree |
| Summer Olympics | 2000–2016 | Has won an Olympic medal in four different Olympic Games | Stands alone |
| Miami Open | 1998–2002 | 22 consecutive singles matches won at this tournament | Steffi Graf |
| Dubai Tennis Championships | 2009–2015 | 16 consecutive singles matches won at this tournament | Stands alone |
| Dubai Tennis Championships | 2010–2014 | 2 consecutive singles titles without dropping a set | Justine Henin |
| Dubai Tennis Championships | 2014 | Only unseeded player to have won in singles and as a wildcard | Stands alone |
| Connecticut Open | 1999–2002 | 4 consecutive singles titles | Caroline Wozniacki |
| Connecticut Open | 1999–2000 | 2 consecutive singles titles without dropping a set | Stands alone |
| U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships | 1998–2007 | Most singles titles won at this tournament (3) | Stands alone |
| Southern California Open | 1999–2002 | 4 consecutive singles finals | Tracy Austin |
| Mexican Open | 2009–2010 | 2 consecutive singles titles | Sara Errani |
| Year-end Championships | 2008–2015 | Won both the WTA Finals and WTA Elite Trophy in singles | Petra Kvitova |
- In 1997, Williams became the first woman since Pam Shriver in 1978 to reach the singles final of the US Open on her first attempt.
- In 1997, Williams became the first unseeded singles finalist at the US Open.
- In 1997, the combined ages of Williams at age 17 and Martina Hingis at age 16 in the US Open final were the lowest in the open era history of that tournament.
- At 1999 IGA SuperThrift Classic in Oklahoma City marking the first time in tennis history that sisters won titles in the same week (Serena won the Open Gaz de France in Paris).
- At the 1999 Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne became the first pair of sisters in the open era to meet in a tournament final (with Serena Williams).
- In 2000, Williams became the second African-American to win Wimbledon during the open era.
- At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, afterHelen Wills Moody in 1924. Serena Williams has since joined these 2 women in completing this feat when she won gold in the Singles at 2012 London Olympics.
- By winning the 2001 Australian Open doubles championship, Venus and Serena Williams became the fifth pair to complete a Career Doubles Grand Slam and the only pair to win a Career Doubles Golden Slam.
- The 2001 US Open marked the first time in the open era, and only the second time in 117 years, that sisters met in a Grand Slam singles final (with Serena Williams).
- In 2001, she became the third woman in the open era, after Navratilova and Graf, to win both Wimbledon and the US Open in consecutive years.
- In February 2002, she became the first African-American woman to become World No. 1 since the computer rankings began in 1975.
- In March 2002, at the Miami Open, her record streak of 22 consecutive wins (won the 1998, 1999, and 2001 titles [skipped 2000]) came to an end at the hands of her sister, Serena, who would go on to win the 2002 title. Serena would also win the 2003 and 2004 titles by winning 18 consecutive matches. In the 2005 Miami Open, Venus would play Serena in the quarter-finals after Serena won her 21st consecutive match in the third round. Venus would end up defeating her younger sister in straight sets, including a riveting 7–6 (10–8) second set, to halt her streak one win short of tying Venus’ record.
- On 10 June 2002, Venus and Serena became the first sisters to hold the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the singles rankings, respectively. Serena would supplant Venus for the No. 1 ranking on 8 July 2002 and they would remain at No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings until Venus fell to No. 3 on 14 April 2003.
- On 21 June 2010, Venus and Serena again occupied the No. 2 and No. 1 spots in the singles rankings, respectively. This came almost exactly 8 years after first accomplishing this feat. At the time, Venus had just celebrated her 30th birthday and Serena was three months shy of her 29th birthday. Both were already beyond the ages at which many of their peers had retired.
- At Wimbledon in 2003, she reached her fourth consecutive Wimbledon final, which since the abolishment of the challenge round system is tied with Helen Wills Moody for fourth behind Navratilova‘s nine, King‘s five, and Evert‘s five.
- Williams, Hingis and Goolagong hold the Open Era record for consecutive losses in Grand Slam singles final appearances (five).
- One of four women, the others being Serena Williams, Navratilova and Graf, to win the Wimbledon singles title at least five times during the Open Era.
- During the 2008 WTA Tour Championships became the 3rd player after Steffi Graf and Serena Williams to beat the second Dinara Safina, third Serena Williamsand first Jelena Jankovic ranked players in the same tournament.
- At Wimbledon in 2009, Williams defeated World No. 1 Dinara Safina in the semifinals 6–1, 6–0, which was the most one-sided women’s semifinal at Wimbledon since 1969, when King defeated Rosemary Casals by the same score.
- At the Miami Open, Venus and Serena have won a combined 11 titles, including 4 consecutive years from 2001 to 2004. Additionally, they both played in the championship match in 1999 and 2001. Venus would defeat Serena in the 1999 final and Serena would turn the tables two years later and beat Venus for the 2001 title.
- Williams held the record for the fastest serve in women’s tennis at 207.9 km/h (129.2 mph), achieved at the 2007 US Open. She held this record for almost 7 years, until her record was broken by Sabine Lisicki at the 2014 Stanford Classic with a service speed of 210.8 km/h (131.0 mph).
- Williams became the first women to win both Year-end Championships (the WTA Finals and the WTA Elite Trophy). She won the 2008 WTA Finals and then the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy in 2015.
- By reaching the semifinals of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, Venus became the oldest woman (at 36 years) to progress to a Grand Slam semifinal since Martina Navratilova in 1994 at Wimbledon. Williams also became just the third player over 36 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal after Navratilova and Billie-Jean King.[98] She achieved this feat again when she reached the semi-finals at the 2017 Australian Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships at 37 years of age.
- At the 2017 Australian Open Venus, at the aged of 36 years, 7 months and 14 days became the oldest Australian Open singles finalist in the Open Era.
- At the 2017 Miami Open Venus became the third woman to record 60+ wins behind her sister Serena and Steffi Graf. She also became the oldest woman at 36 years and 10 months to defeat a current world number one, defeating Angelique Kerber at this event in the quarterfinals.
- At the 2017 French Open Venus broke the record and became the oldest woman to reach the 4th round by defeating Elise Mertens in straight sets
- At the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Venus joined Martina Navratilova as a fellow 37-year old singles finalist.
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SERENA’S ACHIEVEMENTS UNDER RICHARD WILLIAMS
| Career record | 783–130 (85.76%) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Career titles | 72 WTA (5th in overall rankings), 0ITF | ||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (July 8, 2002) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | No. 15 (July 17, 2017) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Singles results | |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | W (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009,2010, 2015, 2017) | ||||||||||||||||||
| French Open | W (2002, 2013, 2015) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010,2012, 2015, 2016) | ||||||||||||||||||
| US Open | W (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012,2013, 2014) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Cup | W (1999) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Finals | W (2001, 2009, 2012, 2013,2014) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 184–30 (85.98%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 23 WTA, 0 ITF | ||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (June 21, 2010) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | No. 39 (June 12, 2017) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | W (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010) | ||||||||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1999, 2010) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009,2012, 2016) | ||||||||||||||||||
| US Open | W (1999, 2009) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other doubles tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Finals | SF (2009) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mixed doubles | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 27–4 (87.1%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | F (1999) | ||||||||||||||||||
| French Open | F (1998) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1998) | ||||||||||||||||||
| US Open | W (1998) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fed Cup | W (1999), record 16–1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hopman Cup | W (2003, 2008) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| A Conversation With The Most Famous Tennis Dad In History, As He Writes About His Life, Excluding Tennis:
Richard Williams stood outside his Midtown Manhattan hotel Monday afternoon, fighting a losing battle with a gusting wind as he attempted to keep a half-smoked cigarette lit. |
Passers-by who recognized Williams as the famous father of the tennis champions Venus and Serena asked if they could take a photograph. Each time, he obliged.
“I don’t dislike anything, and I like anything,” Williams said, using the coded riddles that often inform his conversations. “Whatever happens, I try to be who I am.”
I first met Williams in 2000, the year Venus won her first Wimbledon championship. He shooed me away at first, then relented one afternoon after Venus had defeated Serena in an emotional semifinal.
We talked casually for half an hour, and when we finished, he told me that I had better not try to write a book. I assured him I would not. Fourteen years later, Williams has written his own.
He is in New York this week to promote his memoir, “Black and White: The Way I See It.” I wondered how Williams, 72, could fit such a rich life into fewer than 300 pages. In fact, Williams said, he has completed several books on multiple aspects of his and his family’s lives. This is the only one that has been published.
“The only reason I released this is because these last seven years, Serena kept pushing me,” Williams said. “She said, ‘Publish something; I don’t care which one.’ I was about to burn them.”
“This is about my life,” he said. ”A lot of people thought I was writing about a bunch of tennis, backhands and forehands. This is about my life, and tennis was not part of my life growing up. I think there are enough books about tennis.”
Odd as it sounds, given his reputation for offering unfiltered opinions, Williams said he had wanted to write a book that would set the record straight.
“People have had the wrong perception of me for so many years,” he said.
One of the accurate perceptions about Williams is that he is a straight shooter who speaks his mind, particularly when it comes to issues of prejudice and race. Many of his attitudes were formed by his experiences growing up in Louisiana, and he has often found himself in the middle of racially tinged issues related to Venus and Serena.
