Venus Williams is set to play her 24th Wimbledon Championships. She has five Wimbledon five titles out of her career total of seven Grand Slams. Venus has made 80 Grand Slam appearances, a record in both WTA and ATP. Serena Williams also stands in the Top 5 with 69 Grand Slam appearances, winning 23 singles titles. While the world speculated about the retirement of ‘Queen Vee’ time and again, she did not give in to the pressure. Though she was off-court most of the time, she recently made a comeback on the grass but still struggling to return to form.

Venus is named ‘Queen’ for a reason. It took her three Wimbledons to claim her first title, and the story behind it was a blend of amusement, confidence, and hope.

Venus Williams knew she would claim the title in 2000

In 2000, Venus started the decade with her first Wimbledon title. She beat the three-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport in straight sets to claim the title. She became the first black woman since Althea Gibson in 1957 to claim the title. Interestingly, Venus defeated her sister Serena in the semi-finals.

The then 20-year-old was so confident about the first win that she set everything for the Champions dinner beforehand. Serena also did, but her sister got the honor that year. According to Eurosport, Venus said, “I had one dress I could wear, but it was last year’s, it wasn’t the right color. Colors have changed since then. So I had to go find a dress?I was scrambling around the mall finding a dress. It was an extra incentive because if I didn’t win, I wouldn’t get to wear this wonderful dress.”

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But she did not find a dress in perfect condition. So she had to try to get it fixed. Venus elaborated, “There were beads falling off of it, so they had to go call another store, find another dress the same, then repair the dress. So I went through a lot to get this.”?She did not even compromise on her dress for her first Champions Dinner. To reach there, Venus had to defy a lot of odds.

The story behind Queen’s first win at Wimbledon

The 43-year-old played her first All-White match when she was 17 years old in 1997. She lost in the first round to Magdalena Grzybowska in her first Grass Slam match. In 1998, she made it to the quarter-finals but lost to Jana Novotna. In the next year, Venus lost to the legendary Steffi Graf, who retired later that year.

‘Queen Vee’ won Wimbledon for two consecutive years after that. In 2001, she beat her sister Serena in the finals to defend her title. But Serena had her revenge in the next year’s Wimbledon final as she beat Venus to claim her first Grass Slam title. 2001 was not a glorious year for Venus, as she was blamed for not playing matches.

In the post-match interview, Venus said that she was not forced by anyone to play and that it was her own decision. She said it showing up on the court and playing was the least she could do for her fans.

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How far will Venus go in this year’s Wimbledon? Let us know in the comments.