King Richard played a pivotal role in the career of his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams. He was their first coach and introduced them to the sport. Eventually, their efforts bore fruit as the Williams sisters went on to become a legendary sibling pair in the tennis world. Despite their rise to stardom, success didn’t come easy for them and the pair had to be disciplined right from their childhood days. Earlier today, their first professional coach, Rick Macci, made an interesting revelation on the Williams sisters’ rise to stardom.

Serena and Venus Williams’ father Richard was a strict coach and someone who would never compromise on discipline. As a result, he always ensured that his daughters also followed his stringent routine and took tennis seriously. Talking about their tennis routine, Rick Macci revealed a solid life lesson that Richard taught to his daughters.

Macci took to X and wrote, “Richard was always Early to practice. Always. We said if you are Late you will never be Great. Both VEE and Meek on court not only prepared Early but very seldom hit Late. Life lessons by the Compton Crusader.”

King Richard is still going strong. He refuses to leave the sport that has given him so much. Earlier this year, he attended Venus Williams’ training session and the latter shared the video of it on her Instagram handle. “Dad is still going strong. He doesn’t always to the practices (I can’t always get him to come!) but when he does it’s epic. That was the end of a two minute rally,” Williams wrote.

Despite playing hardball as a coach, King Richard was always a protective father. During an interview once, Serena Williams revealed her father’s protective nature.

When Serena Williams opened up about her father’s important trait

Williams’ family came from a humble background and didn’t have the best facilities while growing up in Compton. The Williams sisters, in their childhood, utilized the public tennis courts in their locality to train. However, despite all the adversities, King Richard never let his family get affected. Serena Williams once revealed a vital trait of his father.

During an interview, Serena said, “My dad was and still is way before his time. You see, when someone is different—when they don’t act or look how a person assumed they would—the first reaction is often fear. They think, How do we break them? My dad anticipated that, but he would not allow himself or his family to be broken.”

While their father was the pillar of their success, their mother Oracene also played an important role. “My mom, if you take a human being, you have a body, she would be the spine, where you can’t move without it, you can’t do anything. I would say that’s her. She was there in the beginning of our career, and she really supported us the way your spine would, help you stand straight. She was there the whole time,” Serena added.

Together, the Williams family was able to overcome their humble background and carve a niche for themselves through tennis. Indeed, this will go down as one of the sporting world’s most inspirational stories.