The Williams Sisters: From Rags to Riches

When many people imagine Serena and Venus Williams Sisters, they may picture a perfect life and great upbringing. Sadly, this and this was not the case. Venus and Serena were born to parents Richard and Oracene Williams along with three other siblings. Together Oracene and Richard are parents to both Venus and Serena; the other three daughters were fathered by Oracene’s first husband. Growing up, the Williams family did not have money since Oracene worked as a hair stylist and Richard focused primarily on coaching tennis. Richard and Oracene wanted a better future for their daughters, so they moved them to the Los Angeles area and began preparing their daughters for a career in professional tennis.

Richard Williams had hopes of one of his daughters reaching the professional level, and luckily they got two. Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most successful women tennis players of all times, in both singles and doubles. Over the course of their careers each sister has earned many titles and taken home large sums of money. Since her professional debut in 1994, Venus Williams has earned more than $22 million in prize money. Serena made her debut in 1995 and has earned over $24 million. Both of the Williams Sisters are on top of their game and continue to dominate the tennis world.

The Williams story has been a bit of a rags to riches story, but tragedy still found them in 2003 when eldest sister Yetunde Price was shot and killed. The Williams family offered their thanks for the prayers, but has not spoken publicly about the incident.