Venus Williams Facts

Venus Williams is one of the best well known professional tennis players, and for good reason. She and her sister, Serena, dominated tennis when they entered the professional scene ten years ago. After being partially eclipsed in the media by glamorous Russian stars such as Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova, and more recently by American Melanie Oudin, Venus and Serena have made a bit of  a comeback in recent tournaments.

Here are a few Venus Williams facts, some of which are quite surprising.

A ball served by Venus will most likely move faster than one served by either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, two men who have held the #1 spot in the ATP. She holds the record for the fastest serve in women's tennis, at 130 mph.

Understandably, Venus plays best on grass, which is known for being the fastest of the three official courts.

Venus is the older sister of Serena Williams. However, there are not only two of them. She is actually the fourth. Her father wanted all of the girls to become tennis stars, but only Venus and Serena went pro.

Venus is a devout Jehovah's Witness, and she credits her faith with her ability to concentrate and do well under pressure.

She currently has won the second most amount of money of any women's tennis player, a tribute to her exceptional skill, not only in winning tournaments, but winning consistently. Her sister is first. This is notable considering that Serena and Venus Williams' childhood was not particularly affluent.

Venus's accomplishments have not been limited to tennis. She has started two companies, V Starr Interiors, an interior design company; and EleVen, a fashion line. Both companies derive their names from her own: Starr is one of Venus's middle names, and the capitalized "V" in EleVen emphasizes its correspondence with the beginning of the word "Venus".

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