Venus Williams undoubtedly has secured her place among the biggest legends in the realm of tennis, and why wouldn’t she? The American star has won 7 women’s singles Majors and also captured a whopping 14 doubles titles. However, despite her thunderous performances on the tennis court, her sister, Serena Williams, eclipsed her in every department. Serena won a record 23 singles Majors and also registered 14 doubles titles. In a recent interview with Nelson Boyce, Venus Williams admitted that she lacked one special quality that Serena had in abundance. According to her, it was that one special quality that allowed Serena to dominate women’s tennis for such a long time.
Serena’s edge over Venus
Despite acknowledging the role of her parents and her own talent, Venus said that Serena had more aggression and desire to succeed. She said, “I didn’t really have that extra ‘uhhh’ to become a really big champion.”
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For Venus, the mentality was all about winning “some big events, but not the biggest events”. However, according to Venus, “Serena always had that.”
She also spoke at length about how she developed herself by observing Serena. “I looked at her and I learned from her just by looking and watching on how to develop myself.”
Parents pushed Venus and Serena Williams to reach for success
In the same interview, Boyce quizzed Venus on what she believed her strengths were that made her successful as an athlete and a person. In her reply, Venus appreciated her parents for being “great role models.”
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She said, “Not everyone is born with those great role models or sometimes a lot of parents don’t push their kids so they don’t develop that early on.” However, she went on to speak encouraging words for aspiring young athletes. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t mean you can’t acquire it and you can’t have it.”
According to Venus, she had a natural talent for tennis as well, which helped her cement her long and prosperous career. “I was always very talented on the court growing up”.
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Venus’ final thoughts on the matter went something like, “where we start is not always we end, and that’s okay too.” At the peaks of their respective powers, the tennis world was in awe of the Williams sisters. However, they weren’t only sisters; there was a time when they were rivals as well. It’s safe to say that Serena got the better of the sibling rivalry.
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