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Though they were pros, the Williams sisters played in very few tournaments in 1995 and 1996. They continued to live and practice and do schoolwork in Florida. Richard continued to encourage the girls and help them to develop their powerful serves. At a time when most players’ serves reached only about 100 miles per hour, Venus could sometimes hit the ball 120 miles per hour! The sisters moved faster than other tennis players and could get to shots many pros could not reach. They were improving day by day and were noticed for beating higher-ranked players.

They were also getting attention for how they looked and dressed. Most female tennis players wore plain pastel or white clothes. The Williams sisters had a more colorful sense of style. Oracene braided her daughters’ hair, and added bright beads to the braids. When playing in England at Wimbledon, for example, Venus wore purple and dark green beads in her hair—the colors of the tournament. The sisters also wore tennis skirts and dresses in bright colors.

Fans and reporters took notice, and not always in a positive way. Some tennis experts and journalists felt that such colorful gear was out of place in the world of professional tennis.

Later in her career, Serena commented on her style, saying, “I just think I represent all females out there who believe in themselves. It doesn’t matter what you look like, it’s all about having confidence in you .”

Some people did not like how the girls showed emotion when they made a great play or won a big game. For the most part, women in pro tennis did not celebrate or shout after winning a point or a match. In fact, the rules still prohibit the players from talking to or yelling at their opponents while the ball is in play. Tennis fans are also expected to be very quiet as each point begins. However, after winning tough points or big games, the Williams sisters, often shouted encouragement at themselves or let out a big whoop.

By late 1997, Venus was getting attention for more than her style. At top tournaments, the best players (usually about sixteen or thirty-two, depending on the size of the event) are given a “seeding”—a rank against the other players. The rest of the players are not given a seed and have to play tougher matches. At the 1997 US Open, in the newly named Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, seventeen-year-old Venus did not receive one of the seeds. She still battled through many top players to make the final. She was the first unseeded player since 1958 to do so. Though she lost that final to Martina Hingis, it was a huge moment for the Williams family. But it was soon overshadowed.

In interviews with reporters, Richard, who was not at the tournament, said that people were against Venus, her style, and her attitude because she was black. Venus responded that she just wanted to talk about tennis. “I think this moment in the first year in Arthur Ashe Stadium, it all represents everyone being together, everyone having a chance to play,” she said. “So I think this is definitely ruining the mood, these questions about racism.”

As the sisters continued to move up the ranks in the world of professional tennis, their race continued to be part of their story. They mostly ignored the questions from reporters or the comments from people in the stands and charged ahead, being true to themselves and winning again and again.

“Whenever tennis had [asked] them to be like everyone else . . . the sisters have always famously declined,” wrote a reporter a few years later. “They are black in a sport where practically no one is black.”

Arthur Ashe (1943–1993)

Arthur Ashe grew up in Virginia and later graduated from the University of California–Los Angeles. In 1975, he became the first African American man to be ranked No. 1 in tennis in the world, and he was also the first to win Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open.

He retired in 1980. In 1988, doctors discovered that he had been infected with HIV/AIDS from blood received during a heart operation. He became a leading activist, working to educate people about the disease. The main stadium at the USTA Tennis Center—where the US Open is played each year—is named Arthur Ashe Stadium in his honor.

While the tennis world buzzed about the sisters, they faced another issue: playing each other. Since they had started back in Compton, they had rarely faced each other in a match that counted. As juniors, they were in different age divisions. As they began entering pro events together, however, it was sister vs. sister.

When they weren’t playing each other, they celebrated together. In early 1998, Venus won her first pro tournament in Oklahoma City. The next year, the two sisters became the first sisters to each win a tournament on the same day! Venus won again in Oklahoma while Serena won in Paris.

Venus and Serena also excelled at doubles tennis. In doubles, teams of two players face off against each other. Paired with Justin Gimelstob in mixed doubles (one male and one female player), Venus won the 1998 Australian and French Open doubles championships. Teaming with Max Mirnyi, Serena took home titles at Wimbledon and the US Open. That gave the sisters all four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in one year, an all-time professional tennis first.

What Are the Grand Slams?

There are four tennis tournaments that are considered to be the most important professional tennis events in the world. Together, they are known as the Grand Slam. (Each individual event is called a Grand Slam, too.) The tournaments are played on three different surfaces to challenge the players’ skills.

The Grand Slams are:

Australian Open: Played early in the year on hard courts in Melbourne, Australia.
French Open: Played in Paris on red-clay courts.
Wimbledon: Played on grass courts in Wimbledon, England, officially called “The Championships.”
United States Open: Played on hard courts in New York City.

A player has to win all four of these events in the same year to win the Grand Slam. The last woman to do this was Steffi Graf in 1988. The last man was Rod Laver in 1969.

Through all of their early success, they were both still teenagers. To have some fun as they traveled from tournament to tournament, Venus came up with the idea for a newsletter. The girls worked together to write, edit, design, and print their Tennis Monthly Recap . They interviewed other players and included notes on things they saw and heard at pro matches. When each issue was ready, they distributed it to other professional players.

In 1998, Venus finished her lessons and graduated from the Driftwood Academy, a private high school. Serena graduated the following year. In the years to come, both girls took college classes online, studying languages, history, business, and fashion.

That year also saw the teens’ first matchup in a professional tournament final, the Lipton Championships in Florida. Venus won that match, but Serena had her moment soon after. At the 1999 US Open, Serena became the first African American woman to win the event since Althea Gibson in 1958.

President Bill Clinton called Serena right after the US Open to congratulate her. “It was very exciting,” Serena said. “I thought for sure my day couldn’t get any better. Next thing I knew, someone was telling me, ‘the president of the United States wants to talk.’”

Up to this point, Venus had been the bigger star. By winning the first Grand Slam singles title in the Williams family, Serena positioned herself to move past her older sister.

Althea Gibson (1927–2003)

Growing up in New York City, Althea Gibson was a great athlete. But she had to overcome the racism of professional sports to take her place among tennis’s greatest stars.

Gibson was the girls’ champion of the American Tennis Association (ATA) in 1944 and 1945, and the women’s champion from 1947 to 1956. The ATA was for African Americans only. The United States Lawn Tennis Association did not allow black players in its tournaments.

In 1950, Gibson changed that when she became the first black player ever to play in the US National Championships, the top tournament in America (later called the US Open). The next year, she was the first black player at Wimbledon, too.

In 1956, she won the French Open. In both 1957 and 1958 she won the US Open and Wimbledon.

Althea Gibson was voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.