Venus Williams Biography

Venus Williams has won the ladies' singles tennis championship at Wimbledon in 2000, 2001, and last year in 2005. In 2000 she became the first female African American champion at the world's biggest tennis tournament since Althea Gibson in 1957 and 1958. She was runner up to sister Serena in 2002 and 2003. Having been first or second for five of the past six years does not mean winning this year will be easy, however, as the sixth seeded Venus Williams would face top seeded and favorite Ameile Mauresmo of France in the quarterfinals, if both make it that far in the tournament. Mauresmo, the reigning Australian Open champion, is a favorite for the first time and plays qualifier Ivana Abramovich of Croatia in the first round.

Besides winning Wimbledon three times and being second twice, career tennis highlights for the former number one player in the world, Venus Williams, have included winning two gold medals at the Sydney Olympics, the 1999 French Open Doubles championship (with Serena as her partner, the first time in the 20th century sisters had won the championship), winning the U.S. Open championship in 2000 and 2001 winning the French Open in 2002, and the Australian Open in 2003, and being second in five major championships in 2003, every time losing to Serena.

Venus Williams was not at her best when she played her sister in the 2003 Wimbledon final, as she suffered a severe adnominal injury during the match. The injury required treatment during the match, but she continued to play, losing 6-4, 2-6, 2-6.

Venus Williams did win the biggest tennis tournament in the world last year at Wimbledon, but the career of herself and her sister has suffered after an older sister, Yetunde Price was killed by gunshots on September 14, 2003. They both suffered injuries that kept them from playing in the later half of the 2003 year, and Belgian players Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne became dominant.