Venus Williams touches down in L.A.
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, born in Lynwood and raised in Compton but now a Florida resident, stopped by The Times’ offices Tuesday for a chat and to provide updates on her busy schedule since she lost in the Wimbledon final to sister Serena.
Venus, who recently turned 29, is in town for Wednesday’s ESPY Awards at the Nokia Theatre at LA Live. She will also get in some family time with mom Oracene and sister Lyndrea, who still live in the Los Angeles area.
‘I love it here. I need to kind of move back here half the time,’ said Williams, who enjoys going to shows and live music performances while here but doesn’t have a favorite restaurant.
‘I’m always here in the summer. The winter’s cold. I’m a Florida girl.’
Williams remains active in fashion design with her EleVen clothing line, which doesn’t currently have a distributor but could find one by the end of the summer. ‘I’m thinking some good things are on the horizon,’ she said.
In the meantime, there’s a lot of tennis on her calendar. She’s scheduled to play in a tournament at Stanford starting July 27, in Cincinnati on Aug. 10 and in Toronto on Aug. 17, all in preparation for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 31. She has won that title twice.
Although she’s getting older, at least in tennis terms, she said she has no timetable for how long she will play on the WTA tour.
‘I’m planning on stopping when I’m terrible,’ she said. ‘As long as I’m doing great I have no plans of stopping.’
More from Venus later, at www.latimes.com/sports
-- Helene Elliott