Why Venus and Serena Williams’ Father Richard Williams Cannot Speak?

Richard Williams, the driven coach who propelled his daughters Venus and Serena to tennis superstardom, has been a source of constant support and headlines. The father of two daughters started to train his girls at a very young age. Despite having limited resources, the dedicated father turned the revolution of women’s tennis. But in recent years, his health has taken a turn, making him a quieter figure in tennis realm. “Declining health, a messy divorce and being cared for by a son with a criminal past,” speaks for Richard’s difficulties themselves.

On 19th November 2021, the much-anticipated biopic, ‘King Richard’ was released. The movie revolves around the unbelievable journey of Richard Williams, an American tennis coach, as he nurtures two of the greatest female tennis players of all time. However, Williams’ health began to decline in the mid-2010s, preventing him from routinely attending his daughters’ events. 2016 was the year when it started to get bad.

Per multiple sources, Richard Williams, then-74 years old, suffered a stroke which reportedly made him to experience memory loss. This unfortunate health condition has impacted his daily life and his ability to recall certain memories. While at one hand 2016 saw Serena Williams win a Wimbledon title, tying her with Steffi Graf for the most Slams in the open era for both women and men. At the other, Richard suffered a stroke.

The circumstances became worse for Richard in 2017, when Lakeisha Juanita Graham, his third wife filed a divorce. The court’s records also tell a considerable deal about his current health situation. In 2018, it came out that Richard had two strokes instead of one, gravely injuring his brain. In February 2020, reports showed up that Richard Williams is suffering from ‘dementia’ as well as ‘brain damage’. Subsequently, he also experienced significant speaking trouble. However, there have been conflicting reports about Richard Williams’ health.

Richard Williams’ daughter claims ‘she won’t be surprised if her father lied about his health’

While some accounts detail a significant decline in his health abilities, his daughter from Lakeisha, Sabrina, has questioned the accuracy of these portrayals. “Wow, that doesn’t sound like someone who’s had two strokes, come on, he doesn’t even have dementia! I’m done with playing like that. He needs to stop playing all the time,” said Sabrina laughing.

Williams is currently in the custody of his son Chavoita Lesane, who currently resides in Atlanta. Apart from this, Lesane, who has power of attorney over Williams, has been the care taker of his father since 2016. Chavoita, father of two sons himself, is a outspoken supporter of his father health. From the looks of his Instagram account, Lesane’s father appears to have become frail due to having suffered three strokes.