Tennis Finds Life in Venus

Venus Williams came to the U.S. Open with the refreshing brashness of a 17-year-old, and she completed the tournament with a poise well beyond her years. Although she fell one match short of becoming champion, her debut at the Open marked a special moment for the new Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams, now a Florida resident, had a racket in hand by age 4 and grew up playing on public courts in Compton in an inner-city youth program begun by Ashe, a UCLA standout and the first African American man to win a Grand Slam title, the U.S. Open of 1968. Like many other tennis prodigies, Williams has gained from parental advice. She was coached by her father, Richard, and was guided by her mother, Oracene, in achieving a normal life, education and sense of perspective. All of this the African American teenager demonstrated on and off the court in New York last weekend.

But the young player’s rise to the top was not without controversy. Williams bumped into her semifinal opponent, Romanian Irina Spirlea, during a changeover. Venus dismissed the incident. But her father said the bump was a “racial thing.” He is allowed his opinion, but it was his daughter who had to face reporters’ questions about the comment after her loss to Martina Hingis in the women’s final.

She fielded them like a champion. “I think this moment in the first year in Arthur Ashe Stadium, it all represents everyone being together, everyone having a chance to play. So I think this is definitely ruining the mood, these questions about racism.”

The women’s game has a fine future in the hands of Venus Williams and Martina Hingis, and the Williams family should be proud.