The Williams Sisters

A story has been told of two sisters who were trained by their dad specially, and groomed to see themselves as both sisters and champions. They are the legendary Williams Sisters. The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (born in 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (born in 1981), twenty-one-time Grand Slam title winner (singles).

They were both coached from an early age by their parents Richard

Williams and Oracene Price. There is a noted professional rivalry between them – between the 2001 US Open and the 2009 Wimbledon tournaments, they have met in eight Grand Slam singles finals. They remain very close, often watching each other's matches in support, even after one of them has been knocked out of a tournament.

Both sisters have been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association at the World No. 1 position. In 2002, after the French Open, Venus Williams and Serena Williams were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. During the 2010 French Open, they became the co-world no.1 players in women's doubles, in addition to holding the top two positions in singles tennis.

Both players have won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics Games, one each in singles and three in doubles - all won together - the most of any tennis players. As a duo, they have also completed the Career Golden Slam in doubles.

During the 2001 Indian Wells Masters tournament in Indian Wells, California, controversy erupted when Venus Williams withdrew four minutes prior to her semifinal match with her sister Serena. Serena was subsequently booed during the championship match against Kim Clijsters and during the trophy presentation. The following day, Serena played Clijsters in the final. Venus and her father, (and coach to her and Serena) Richard Williams were booed as they made their way to their seats.Serena was booed intermittently during the final, in which she defeated Clijsters, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2.

However, on February 3, 2015, Serena Williams wrote an exclusive column for TIME magazine stating her intentions to return to Indian Wells for a tournament on March 9, 2015. She did indeed return and won her opening match. Williams withdrew before her semi-final match with Simona Halep because of a knee injury. The WTA announced on January 27, 2016 that Venus would return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years.

She has won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Venus, and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam tournament finals. Williams is also a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships. Serena has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in women's singles and three in women's doubles — an all-time record shared with her sister, Venus. The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with launching a new era of power tennis in the women's game. Williams was the second-highest paid female athlete in 2015 earning $11.6 million in prize money and $13 million from endorsements. In December 2015, she was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player, who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 12 in singles as of March 7, 2016. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions, for a total of eleven 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. She is credited as changing the women's game and ushering a new, modern era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. She is also generally regarded as one of the all-time greats of women's tennis.

Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her twelfth on the all-time list, and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. Her 22 overall Grand Slam titles consist of seven in singles, thirteen in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her five Wimbledon singles titles tie her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list. Venus Williams is one of only four women in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles. Between the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Venus Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only five women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches.

Venus Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women's doubles. She and her sister Serena have won more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player, male or female. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Venus Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924.

With 49 career singles titles, Venus Williams is behind only her sister Serena Williams amongst active players on the WTA Tour. Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000. She is also one of only three active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, the other players being her sister Serena Williams and Russian Maria Sharapova.

Venus Williams has played against her sister Serena Williams in 27 professional matches since 1998, with Venus winning 11 of the 27 matches. They have played against each other in eight Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they opposed each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the Open Era that the same two players played against each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals. On the other side, the pair have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles playing alongside each other and are undefeated in Grand Slam finals. The Williams sisters also took part in the Battle of the Sexes tennis edition, in one of the few instances, where female tennis players played against ranked male tennis players.

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player, who is ranked No. 1 in women's singles tennis. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked her world No. 1 in singles on six separate occasions. She became the world No. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002, and achieved this ranking for the sixth time on February 18, 2013. She is the reigning champion of the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic women's singles and doubles. Williams is regarded by some commentators and sports writers as the greatest female tennis player of all-time.

Williams holds the most major singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles combined amongst active players, male or female. Her record of 36 major titles puts her fifth on the all-time list and second in the open era with: 21 in singles, 13 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four major singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15), the fifth woman ever to do so and only the third player, male or female, to achieve this record twice after Rod Laver and Steffi Graf. She is also the most recent player, together with her sister Venus Williams, to have held all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles simultaneously (2009–10).

Her total of 21 Grand Slam singles titles is third on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24) and Steffi Graf (22), and second in the Open Era, behind only Graf. She is the only tennis player – female or male – to have won singles titles at least six times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. She is also the only tennis player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades. She has won an all-time record 12 Grand Slam singles titles on hardcourt. Williams holds the Open Era record for most titles at the Australian Open (6) and shares the record for most titles at the US Open with Chris Evert (6).