via Getty
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: Serena Williams (R) of the USA celebrates with her father Richard Williams after her Ladies’ Singles final match against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland on day twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 7, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
via Getty
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: Serena Williams (R) of the USA celebrates with her father Richard Williams after her Ladies’ Singles final match against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland on day twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 7, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
It is a widely known fact that behind every successful person, there is a pillar who supports the person. And Serena Williams’ case was no different. Richard Williams, her father, played the role of a pillar in her career, introducing tennis to the sisters at a very young age.
Moreover, he would be always there to support her. Richard was always present when the Williams sisters took to the tennis court. The ‘King Richard’ film, released last year, beautifully depicted his story.
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Further, Will Smith played a stellar role portraying Richard Williams in the film. The American superstar has won numerous awards for this film. Recently, Serena opened up on the film’s success and the actual story of her father.
Serena Williams talks about her father
The 23-time Grand Slam champion talked about the role of Will Smith in the film and how King Richard help clear the misconceptions surrounding her father. She said, “It was important for us to tell the truth and the protection that my dad had around myself and my sister and our family together… it was my dad. It was my mom, it was our family and all the work we put into our career.”
Further, she added, “So that was super-important for us to just have the truth be told and unfortunately, entering a new sport where it’s predominantly, you know, white, and having my dad have like this villain character, just wasn’t true. Just having to deal with that my entire career from day 1 to you know the very end was just really important for us to tell the truth.”
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"It was important for us to tell the truth and the protection that my dad had around myself and my sister and our family together… it was my dad. It was my mom, it was our family." @serenawilliams on telling her family's story in the Oscar nominated film 'King Richard.' pic.twitter.com/RtfPb3xbRm
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) March 4, 2022
Recently, Will Smith won the Screen Actors Guild Award for the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. Further, King Richard has received six Oscar nominations.
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WATCH THIS STORY: Will Smith Shows How King Richard Cast Trained Like Serena and Venus Williams
Coming to tennis, Serena has returned to light training. She will be aiming to make a comeback in the clay-court season. Can Serena equal or better Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles? Let us know your views in the comments below.
