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What if someone told you that a certain Romanian tennis player changed the entire course of American sporting history? Well, it is not as unbelievable as it sounds! When Richard Williams witnessed Romania’s Virginia Ruzici bag $20,000 on winning the French Open title in 1978, it inspired him to dream big – a dream in the form of two behemoths of American sport – Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Indeed, the emergence of the Williams sisters changed the complexion of the sport of tennis forever. While Venus is a trailblazer in many ways, Serena is widely considered one of the greatest players to ever hold a tennis racket. In a recent podcast appearance, world-renowned Nigerian professor Chris Imafidon shed light on the glaring importance of Serena and Venus’ father Richard Williams in shaping the legendary careers of the 2.

Nigerian professor on Richard Williams’ contribution to the career of Serena Williams

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Nigerian-born Chris Imfadion is one of the world’s most well-known scholars and is a professor at the University of Oxford in England. He recently appeared in the podcast ‘Fearless Netpreneur Show’ where he spoke about the significance of identifying real talent at a very young age and how parents can play a huge role in this. Imfadion provided some high-profile examples from the sporting world to prove his point – perhaps none more glaring than ‘King’ Richard, father of Venus and Serena Williams.

Chris said, “Tiger Woods’ father was able to find out this is what Tiger Woods is predisposed to, and then encouraged Tiger Woods and supported Tiger Woods. Serena Williams’ father was able to find out what Serena and Venus Williams were interested in and then encouraged them. But if you had made Serena Williams play golf, huh, there will be trouble. Or make Serena Williams sing like Beyoncé, then there will be trouble. You’re putting a round peg in a square hole”. Certainly, providing the right encouragement and support to talents from an early age is of paramount importance.

In this regard, Richard Williams’ place in the history books is perhaps unparalleled. The 81-year-old once revealed how he planned the careers of Venus and Serena Williams, which serves as a testament to his relentless perseverance.

READ MORE: Where Did Venus and Serena Williams’ Father Richard Williams Learn Tennis From?

‘King’ Richard designed the careers of the Williams sisters

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The stellar heights that Venus and Serena Williams achieved in their illustrious careers were made possible by the efforts of their father Richard Williams. He opened up on how he practically planned and designed the careers of his daughters in an interview a couple of years back.

In a startling revelation, he mentioned that he had an 85-page plan for Venus, along with a separate plan for Serena. He even noted down the ways he thought would help him be successful in bringing his plans to fruition.

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It can well be understood how the constant efforts and perseverance of Richard propelled the Williams sisters to eternal greatness. As Professor Imfadion rightfully opined, the proper identification of talent and constant encouragement from Richard was the key to the overwhelming success of Venus and Serena.

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