Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Along with her younger sister, Serena, Venus Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1994, she reached her first major final at the 1997 US Open. In 2000 and 2001, Williams claimed the Wimbledon and US Open titles, as well as Olympic singles gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She first reached the singles world No. 1 ranking on 25 February 2002, becoming the first African American woman to do so in the Open era, and the second of all time after Althea Gibson. She reached four consecutive major finals between 2002 and 2003, but lost each time to Serena. She then suffered from injuries, winning just one major title between 2003 and 2006. Williams returned to form starting in 2007, when she won Wimbledon (a feat she repeated the following year). In 2010, she returned to the world No. 2 position in singles, but then suffered again from injuries. Starting in 2014, she again gradually returned to form, culminating in two major final appearances at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017.
Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994, at the age of 14. In the first round of her first professional tournament, the Silicon Valley Classic in Oakland, Venus played former NCAA singles champion Shaun Stafford, who earlier that year had reached the fourth round of the French Open. Williams beat her fellow American in two sets. In the second round of the tournament, Williams was up a set and a service break against world No. 2, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, before losing the match. Vicario went on to win the title by defeating Martina Navratilova. That was the only tournament Williams played in 1994.
In 1995, Williams played three more events as a wildcard, falling in the first round of the tournaments in Los Angeles and Toronto but reaching the quarterfinals in Oakland, defeating No. 18 Amy Frazier in the second round for her first win over a top-20 ranked player, before losing to Magdalena Maleeva. Williams played five events in 1996, falling in the first round four times but reaching the third round in Los Angeles, before losing to No. 1 Steffi Graf.
In 1995, when Williams was 14 years old, she signed an endorsement deal with Reebok and wore the company's apparel and shoes. She used a Wilson Hammer 6.2 Stretch racket.
The Williams family moved from Compton, California, to West Palm Beach, Florida, when she was thirteen, so that she and her sister Serena could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who took notice of the sisters and who would provide additional coaching. He did not always agree with Williams' father but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was eleven, since he wanted them to take it slowly and focus on schoolwork. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of other players disparage the Williams sisters during tournaments. At that time, Williams held a 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among the under-12 players in Southern California. In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home.
At Wimbledon, Williams was unseeded for the first time since 1997. She lost to Elena Vesnina in the first round in straight sets. This was the first time Williams lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open, and her first opening round loss at Wimbledon since her debut in 1997. Williams fared better in her return to doubles competition where she played alongside her sister Serena. In just the pair's first tournament since 2010 Wimbledon, the unseeded sisters advanced to the final with victories over fourth-seeds Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova in the second round and top-seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the semifinals. The Williams sisters claimed their fifth Wimbledon doubles title after defeating sixth-seeds Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in straight sets in the final, on the same day Serena Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title.
Williams played 15 tour events in 1997, including five Tier I tournaments. She reached the quarterfinals in three of the Tier I events – the State Farm Evert Cup in Compton, California, the European Indoor Championships in Zürich, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. In Indian Wells in March, Williams defeated No. 9, Iva Majoli, in the third round for her first win over a player ranked in the top 10. She then lost in the quarterfinals to No. 8, Lindsay Davenport, in a third set tiebreak. Her ranking broke into the top 100 on April 14, 1997. She made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, reaching the second round before losing to Nathalie Tauziat. She then lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Magdalena Grzybowska. During her debut at the US Open, she lost the final to Martina Hingis, after defeating Irina Spîrlea in a semifinal which saw Spîrlea and Williams collide during a changeover when neither would yield as they passed the umpire's chair. Richard Williams, her father, later claimed that this incident was racially motivated.
Williams was the defending champion and one of the favorites to win the singles title at Wimbledon. However, she lost in the third round to 26th-seeded Jelena Janković. After the loss, Williams said that she was having pain in her left wrist, although she admitted that the injury was not the cause of her loss. Williams did not play in the US Open Series or the US Open itself due to the wrist injury. In October, during her first tournament in almost three months, she reinjured her wrist at the Luxembourg Open and lost in the second round to qualifier Agnieszka Radwańska. Williams finished the season as No. 46, her lowest finish since she began to play on the WTA Tour full-time in 1997. It was the second consecutive year she finished higher than her sister Serena, who finished the year at No. 95.
Along with her seven singles major titles, Williams has also won 14 women's doubles major titles, all partnering Serena; the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. She became the world No. 1 in doubles for the first time on June 7, 2010, alongside Serena, after the pair completed a non-calendar-year Grand Slam at the French Open. The pair also won three Olympic gold medals in women's doubles, in 2000, 2008, and 2012, adding to Venus' singles gold in 2000 and her mixed doubles silver in 2016. Williams has also won two mixed doubles major titles, both in 1998.
In 1998, Williams teamed with Justin Gimelstob to win the mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her sister Serena Williams won the other two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles that year, completing a "Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam". Williams won the first two women's doubles titles of her career, in Oklahoma City and Zürich. Both titles came with her sister, becoming only the third pair of sisters to win a WTA tour doubles title.
Three weeks later, Williams defeated No. 2 Davenport for the first time in the semifinals of the Cellular South Cup in Oklahoma City. Williams then defeated Joannette Kruger in the final to win the first singles title of her career. In her first Tier I event of the year, Williams lost in the semifinals of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells to No. 1 Hingis. The following week, Williams won the Tier I Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida, defeating No. 1 Hingis in the semifinals. On March 30, 1998, her ranking broke into the top 10 for the first time, at No. 10.
Williams played only one tournament on clay before the 1998 French Open. At the Italian Open in Rome, she defeated her sister in the quarterfinals and No. 5, Sánchez Vicario, in the semifinals, before losing to No. 1, Hingis, in the final. She lost again to Hingis in the quarterfinals of the French Open. She lost her first match at the Eastbourne International on grass, before losing to No. 3 and eventual champion, Jana Novotná, in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. On July 27, 1998, her ranking rose to No. 5.
Williams rebounded in the summer when she won two Fed Cup matches against Italy and lost in the final of the Stanford Classic to No. 1 Davenport. One week later, Williams defeated Davenport in the semifinals of the San Diego Classic, before losing to No. 2 Hingis in the final. In her last tournament before the US Open, Williams won the New Haven Open in Connecticut, defeating No. 5 Seles in the semifinals and Davenport in the final. On August 30, 1999, her world ranking reached third for the first time. Seeded third at the US Open, Williams lost in the semifinals to No. 1 Hingis in three sets. However, she teamed with singles champion Serena Williams at this event to win their second Grand Slam women's doubles title.
In 2000, Williams missed the first five months of the year with tendinitis in both wrists. She returned to the tour during the European clay court season. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Betty Barclay Cup in Hamburg to Amanda Coetzer and in the third round of the Tier I Italian Open in Rome to Jelena Dokić. Although she had won only two of her four matches before the French Open, she was seeded fourth there. She won her first four matches in Paris without losing a set before losing in the quarterfinals to eighth-seeded and former champion Arantxa Sánchez, in three sets.
Williams has played 14 seasons of World TeamTennis, making her debut in 2000 with the St. Louis Aces, playing a season with the Delaware Smash in 2005, three seasons with the Philadelphia Freedoms from 2006 to 2008, and eight seasons with the Washington Kastles in 2010–2015, 2017–2019. She has five King Trophies, claiming her first with the Freedoms in 2006 and four trophies with the Kastles in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. She was also named the 2012 WTT Final MVP for her efforts. It was announced she will be joining the Washington Kastles during the 2020 WTT season set to begin July 12 at The Greenbrier.
Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics to Li Na. She did, however, earn a gold medal along with her sister Serena in women's doubles, their second gold medal as a team, having won together at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. At the US Open, Williams was playing some of her best tennis since dominating the circuit in 2003, However, she was defeated in two tiebreaks by Serena Williams (the eventual tournament winner) in a close quarterfinal match, after Williams had led 5–3 in both sets.
The Williams sisters are credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. With 49 WTA Tour singles titles, Williams has the most singles titles among active players. With 22 WTA doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles, her combined total of 73 WTA titles is also the most among active players. She is also the only active player to have reached the singles finals of all four majors. Williams was twice the season prize money leader (in 2001 and 2017), and ranks second behind Serena in all-time career prize money winnings, having earned over US$42 million as of March 2022. .mw-parser-output .toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul{display:none}
In 2001, Williams reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time, where she lost to No. 1 Hingis. However, Williams teamed with her sister to win the doubles title at the event, completing a Career Golden Slam in women's doubles for the pair.
In 2001, Williams was named among the 30 most powerful women in America by the Ladies Home Journal.
Williams returned to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years after boycotting the tournament in 2001, but lost in the second round to Kurumi Nara. The following week, she was knocked out in the second round of the Miami Open by qualifier Elena Vesnina. Both results marked her worst exits at Indian Wells and Miami in her 23-year career. She began the clay-court season with a win over Alison Riske at the Charleston Open, before losing to Yulia Putintseva in the third round in three tight sets. Williams was scheduled to begin her clay-court season at the Madrid Open but withdrew due to a hamstring injury. The following week, she lost in the second round in Rome. Seeded 9th at the French Open, Williams won her first two rounds in straight sets to set up a third-round clash with Alizé Cornet, whom she defeated in three sets to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2010. She recorded the 200th loss of her career against 8th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky, who won in straight sets. However, her result pushed her back into the top 10 for the first time since her loss at the Australian Open. She also won her first Grand Slam doubles match with sister Serena Williams since the 2014 US Open.
In 2003, Yetunde Price, Venus and Serena Williams's 31-year-old sister (who was also their personal assistant) was shot dead in Compton, California near the courts on which the sisters once practiced. The Williams family issued this statement shortly after the death: "We are extremely shocked, saddened and devastated by the shooting death of our beloved Yetunde. She was our nucleus and our rock. She was a personal assistant, confidante, and adviser to her sisters, and her death leaves a void that can never be filled. Our grief is overwhelming, and this is the saddest day of our lives."
Williams began her 2017 season at Auckland, winning her opening match against local wildcard Jade Lewis before withdrawing due to a right arm pain. Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Williams defeated Kateryna Kozlova, qualifier Stefanie Vögele, Duan Yingying and qualifier Mona Barthel in the opening four rounds respectively in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. She defeated 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for her 50th win at the Australian Open, the first time Williams won a quarterfinal match in Melbourne since defeating Daniela Hantuchová in 2003. Coming back from a set down in her semifinal match, Williams defeated rising American star CoCo Vandeweghe to advance to her first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon 2009 and her first Australian Open final since 2003. In doing so, she set the Open era record for the longest span (20 years) between grand slam singles final appearances, having first reached a Grand Slam singles final at the 1997 US Open. In a closely fought final, she lost in two sets to her younger sister Serena, who made history by winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing the mark set by Steffi Graf. The following week, Williams competed in the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, but lost in the second round to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic. At the Indian Wells Open, Williams came back from a set down and saved three match points in the second round to defeat Jelena Janković, tying their head-to-head record at seven-all. This was her first win at Indian Wells since 2001. She defeated Lucie Šafářová and qualifier Peng Shuai in the third and fourth rounds respectively, avenging her previous losses to both players. She lost to the eventual champion, Elena Vesnina, in the quarterfinals. The following week, Williams scored her first top-ten win since 2015, against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open. She defeated No. 1 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, becoming the oldest player to beat a current No. 1. She lost for a third consecutive time to eventual champion Johanna Konta in straight sets in her first semifinal in Miami since 2010. This marked her fourth consecutive loss to eventual champions.
On May 17, her ranking improved to No. 2, behind only Serena. This was the fourth time that the Williams sisters have occupied the top two spots, and the first time since May 2003.
In 2004, Williams came back to the tour suffering inconsistent results. As the third seed because of a protected ranking, she reached the third round of the Australian Open, where she lost to Lisa Raymond. She then lost in the quarterfinals of her next three tournaments.
Williams began the year at the final edition of Hong Kong Tennis Classic exhibition event. She lost both her singles matches against Vera Zvonareva and Li Na, but she helped Team America to win the silver group. At the Australian Open, Williams retired in the second game of her third round match against Andrea Petkovic after sustaining a hip muscle injury in her second round. This was Williams's first retirement during a match in a Grand Slam tournament since 1994 and thus ended her record of most Grand Slam matches without ever retiring, with 250 consecutive matches. This was also her first retirement from a match since LA Women's Championships in Los Angeles in 2004, ending her 294 consecutive matches without retiring. The injury forced Williams to pull out of the Fed Cup quarterfinal against Belgium, the Dubai Tennis Championships, and the Mexican Open, where she was the two-time defending champion in both tournaments. She subsequently withdrew from the Miami Open causing her ranking to drop to No. 15. She also missed the clay court season which caused her ranking to drop to No. 29. Her absence from the French Open marked the first Grand Slam tournament since the 2003 US Open where neither of the Williams sisters were competing.
Despite years of protesting by tennis pioneer Billie Jean King and others, in 2005 the French Open and Wimbledon still refused to pay women's and men's players equally through all rounds. In 2005, Williams met with officials from both tournaments, arguing that female tennis players should be paid as much as male tennis players. Although WTA tour President Larry Scott commented that she left "a very meaningful impression", Williams's demands were rejected.
In 2005, Tennis Magazine ranked Williams as the 25th-best player of the past 40 years.
In 2005, Williams started the year by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Alicia Molik. She then reached the final in Antwerp, defeating Clijsters and Myskina en route. In the final, Williams was a set and a service break up against Mauresmo before eventually losing.
Williams was ranked No. 31 going into Wimbledon and was seeded 23rd at the tournament due to her previous results at Wimbledon. Williams was a game away from defeat in her first round match against Alla Kudryavtseva and in her third round match against Akiko Morigami she was two points away from defeat, but she eventually won both 7–5 in the third set. She then advanced to reach her sixth Wimbledon final, after beating Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic in straight sets en route, where she defeated 18th seed Marion Bartoli also in straight sets. Williams thus became only the fourth woman in the open era to win Wimbledon at least four times, along with Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf. She also became the lowest-seeded Wimbledon champion in history, breaking the record she herself set in 2005. Williams returned to the top 20 as a result of the win.
Williams withdrew from the 2007 Australian Open, the second consecutive Grand Slam that she had missed due to her recurring wrist injury. She returned in February at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, defeating top-seeded Shahar Pe'er in the final, her first singles title since her victory at Wimbledon in 2005.
In 2006, Williams was upset in the first round of the Australian Open by Tsvetana Pironkova, which was her earliest loss ever at that tournament. After that loss, she did not play again for three months due to a wrist injury. She returned in late April on clay in Warsaw, where she defeated former No. 1 Hingis in the second round, before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. Williams completed the clay-court season by reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open, where she lost to Nicole Vaidišová.
The turning point was an essay published in The Times on the eve of Wimbledon in 2006. In it, Williams accused Wimbledon of being on the "wrong side of history". In response, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of Parliament publicly endorsed Williams's arguments. Later that year, the Women's Tennis Association and UNESCO teamed for a campaign to promote gender equality in sports, asking Williams to lead the campaign. Under enormous pressure, Wimbledon announced in February 2007 that it would award equal prize money to all competitors in all rounds, and the French Open followed suit a day later. In the aftermath, the Chicago Sun-Times cited Williams as "the single factor" that "changed the minds of the boys" and a leader whose "willingness to take a public stand separates her not only from most of her female peers, but also from our most celebrated male athletes". Williams herself commented, "Somewhere in the world a little girl is dreaming of holding a giant trophy in her hands and being viewed as an equal to boys who have similar dreams."
In 2007, Williams teamed with retailer Steve & Barry's to launch her own fashion line, EleVen. "I love fashion and the idea that I am using my design education to actually create clothing and footwear that I will wear on and off the tennis court is a dream come true for me" Williams's line debuted during the 2012 New York fashion week. It was modeled by athletes rather than models, as Williams chose to feature the type of people for whom the line was designed. She also wears outfits from her fashion line on the tennis court.
On December 13, 2007, Venus Williams received her associate degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
In 2008, as the eighth seed at the Australian Open, Williams reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2003. However, she then lost to eventual runner-up Ana Ivanovic. Williams made her first semifinal of the year at the Bangalore Open in India, where she met sister Serena for the first time since 2005 with Serena Williams winning despite Venus Williams holding a match point in the third set tie break.
At the US Open, as the third seed, Williams made it to the fourth round, before losing to Kim Clijsters in three sets. Williams then teamed up with Serena Williams to play doubles at the open, where they won the title over defending champions and No. 1s in doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, claiming their third major doubles title in 2009.
Williams was granted wildcards to participate in the Miami and Charleston tournaments. In the first round of Miami — her first singles match since the 2011 US Open — Williams defeated Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm, in straight sets. In the second round, she defeated No. 3 Petra Kvitová, her first top-3 victory since beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009. In the third round, she saved a match point and defeated Aleksandra Wozniak in a three-set tiebreaker that ended a nearly three-hour match. In the round of 16, she bested No. 15 Ana Ivanovic in three sets to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to the eventual champion, Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets. Her run improved her ranking to No. 87. A week later in Charleston, she reached her second consecutive quarterfinal, where she lost in three sets to Samantha Stosur.
Williams's last tournament in 2009 was the year-ending Tour Championships, where she was the defending champion in singles. She was in the maroon group which includes her sister Serena Williams, along with Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova. She lost her first match against Dementieva, and her second match against her sister Serena- both in straight sets, after taking the first set. In her third and final round-robin match, Williams defeated Kuznetsova. Because of Dementieva's loss to Kuznetsova in their round robin match, Williams advanced to the semifinal of the championships. In her semifinal match, she defeated Jelena Janković of Serbia to advance to her second consecutive final in the tournament which she lost to her sister Serena. In doubles, Williams teamed with her sister as the second seeds. However, they lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez in the semifinal. Their doubles record at the end of the year stood at 24–2.
In June 2009, Williams was named 77th in the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities list compiled by Forbes magazine.
In August 2009, Williams and her sister Serena became minority owners of the Miami Dolphins. This made the sisters the first African-American women to obtain ownership in an NFL franchise.
At the US Open, Williams broke the record for the most Grand Slam appearances, surpassing Amy Frazier's record of 71. This is also the first time that she's been seeded in the top ten at all four Grand Slam tournaments this year, having last achieved this in 2010. She won her first three-round matches respectively against Kateryna Kozlova, Julia Görges and the 26th seed Laura Siegemund. She lost in the fourth round to 10th seed Karolína Plíšková after failing to convert match point.
Williams started her official tennis season as No. 47 in Auckland, where she finished runner-up to Ana Ivanovic. She next participated, unseeded, at the Australian Open where she lost in the first round to No. 23 Ekaterina Makarova in three sets. Moving on to Doha, Williams lost to No. 6 Petra Kvitová in the second round at the Qatar Open after failing to put away match point in the third set tie-break. Williams then entered the Dubai Tennis Championships where she defeated five top-40 players to win her biggest title since the Madrid Open in 2010 and, at 33 years and 8 months of age, became the seventh-oldest woman to win a WTA singles title. En route, she avenged her loss to Ana Ivanovic in Auckland and her sister Serena's loss to Alizé Cornet in the semifinals, then won the title match, keeping her head-to-head record perfect against Caroline Wozniacki. Williams then competed in Miami and in Charleston where she lost to Dominika Cibulková on hard and Eugenie Bouchard on clay, respectively – both in the round of 16 and both in three sets. At the Italian Open, Williams failed to force three sets in a loss for the first time that year, falling in two sets to Carla Suárez Navarro. At the French Open, Williams was upset by No. 56 Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in three sets. Williams then lost in the third round of Wimbledon to eventual champion Petra Kvitová in a classic and much-praised encounter that saw 34 holds of serve and only two breaks. Williams was the only player to take a set against Kvitová in the tournament.
Williams then missed all tournaments in the US Open Series because of a left knee injury but still participated at the US Open as the third seed. She won three matches to move into the fourth round. Williams became one of only two women in 2010 (along with Caroline Wozniacki) to reach at least the fourth round at all four Grand Slam singles tournaments. Williams then defeated Pe'er and French Open champion Schiavone en route to her eighth US Open semifinal, against defending champion Clijsters. Williams won the first set of their match and recovered from 5–2 down in the second set but ultimately double-faulted on a key point near the end of the match and lost in three sets. Because of Serena's withdrawal from the US Open, Venus did not participate at the doubles event, where she was the defending champion.
In late June 2010, Williams released her first book, Come to Win; On How Sports Can Help You Top Your Profession, which she cowrote with Kelly E. Carter. To promote the book, she embarked on a nationwide tour and appeared on several talk shows, including The Early Show and Good Morning America. The book reached the top five on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Her next tournament was the French Open, where she played both singles and doubles despite her knee injury. Seeded second in singles, she advanced past the third round at this tournament for the first time since 2006 before losing to Nadia Petrova in the round of 16. She also played doubles with Serena as the top seeds. Their defeat of Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the semifinals increased their doubles ranking to No. 1. They then defeated 12th seeded Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam women's doubles title. By virtue of reaching the No. 1-ranking in doubles on June 7, 2010, Venus and Serena became just the sixth and seventh women to reach the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles following in the footsteps of Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Kim Clijsters.
In 2011, Williams was forced to withdraw from the US Open before her second-round match following a Sjögren's syndrome diagnosis. After the diagnosis, she adopted a vegan diet and reduced her intake of calories and sugars to return to fitness.
In 2015, Williams received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Indiana University East. She began her studies toward the degree in 2011 through a reciprocal agreement between the university and the Women's Tennis Association that allows athletes to play tennis professionally while studying online. Williams has expressed her desire to earn an MBA in the near future.
Williams began her US Open Series at the Stanford Classic, where she was the No. 1 seed. She defeated Magda Linette in the second round and compatriots Catherine Bellis and Alison Riske in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to reach her eighth final in Stanford. She lost to Johanna Konta, in three sets. By virtue of her result, Williams ascended to No. 6 in the rankings, her highest position since being diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome in 2011. Williams then entered the Rogers Cup. Having received a bye in the first round, Williams won her second-round match against Barbora Strýcová, in straight sets. She fell to Madison Keys in the third round in three sets.
Williams began her play in the US Open Series at the Canadian Open. She defeated qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu in three sets and Kateřina Siniaková in straight sets before losing to fifth seed and eventual champion Elina Svitolina in the third round. The next week, Williams competed in Cincinnati and defeated Alison Riske in the first round before losing to Ashleigh Barty in the second round. Barty was the first person to have defeated Williams and fail to reach at least the semifinals of the event in which they had defeated her in 2017. At the 2017 US Open, Williams defeated Viktória Kužmová, Océane Dodin, and Maria Sakkari to reach the fourth round. Williams reached the second week of all majors in a single season for the first time since 2010, and reached the second week of seven consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, the longest streak among WTA players at that time. In the fourth round, Williams beat Suárez Navarro in three sets to reach her 12th US Open quarterfinal, where she defeated Petra Kvitová in a third set tiebreak during the two-hour, 35 minute match. She also guaranteed her return to the top five in the WTA rankings at the conclusion of the tournament for the first time since January 2011. Williams then lost in three sets to fellow American and eventual champion Sloane Stephens in her first US Open semifinal since 2010.
In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.
At the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, Williams extended her record as the all-time leader, male or female, in Grand Slam tournaments played, with 90. With her run to the 2017 Wimbledon singles final, she claimed the record for the longest time between a player's first and most recent major singles finals appearances (a record later surpassed by her sister Serena at the 2019 US Open). Venus won four Olympic gold medals (one in singles and three in women's doubles with her sister) and one silver (in mixed doubles), tying her with Kathleen McKane Godfree for the most Olympic medals won by a tennis player in history. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at one Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody at the 1924 Summer Olympics (she was followed by her sister in 2012). After winning silver in mixed doubles with Rajeev Ram at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Williams became the first tennis player to win a medal at four Olympic Games, as well as the first player in the Open Era to win an Olympic medal in all three events (singles, doubles, mixed). She and Serena are also the only tennis players in history with four Olympic gold medals, as well as the only ones to win Olympic gold in the same event on three occasions. She along with her sister Serena are the only women in the Open Era to win Olympic tennis gold in both singles and doubles.
Williams has dated golfer Hank Kuehne, who was a visible presence from the time of Wimbledon 2007 until 2010. In 2012, she met Cuban model Elio Pis when he was hired as an underwear model for her clothing line; they dated until 2015. She dated publishing heir Nicholas Hammond for two years until 2019.
In March 2012, Tennis Channel aired a television series listing the 100 greatest players of all time, ranking Williams 22nd. In the series, Lindsay Davenport says: "Venus had more power than any other player on tour."
Williams herself became the first woman to benefit from the equalization of prize money at Wimbledon, as she won the 2007 tournament and was awarded the same amount as the male winner Roger Federer. Williams's fight for equality was documented in Nine for IX, Venus Vs. It premiered on July 2, 2013.
Williams's next tournament was at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, where she received a wildcard as the No. 1 seed. She advanced to the quarterfinals in straight-set first- and second-round victories and was set to play Czech player Lucie Hradecká. She defeated Hradecká in a 2-hour, 13-minute match in three sets. In the semifinal, Williams beat fellow countrywomen Shelby Rogers in straight sets to progress to her fourth final of the year, where she lost to a resurgent Mirjana Lučić-Baroni in straight sets. Williams then played at the Wuhan Open, where she lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia despite having held a match point. Her final tournament of the year was at the China Open, where she won her first two matches before withdrawing before the third round. Williams ended the year ranked No. 19 in singles, the first finish since 2010 inside the top 20. Williams joined the Bangalore Raptors team in 2014 for the first edition of Champions Tennis League India.
Williams also reached the semifinals of the Tier I Tennis Masters Series tournament in Indian Wells, where she controversially defaulted her match with her sister just before the match started. Williams had been suffering from knee tendinitis throughout the tournament and eventually this prevented her from playing. The following day, Williams and her father Richard were booed as they made their way to their seats to watch the final. Serena Williams was subsequently booed during the final with Kim Clijsters and during the trophy presentation. Due to this, neither Williams sister entered the tournament for 14 years, with her sister Serena entering in 2015 after appeals for forgiveness from the event and the WTA Tour. Williams rebounded from the Indian Wells 'boycott' controversy to win the next tournament on the tour calendar, the Tier I Key Biscayne Open. She defeated Hingis in the semifinals and No. 4 Jennifer Capriati in the final, after saving eight championship points. Because of this victory, her ranking rose to a career high of No. 2.
Williams started off her season at the Auckland Open, where she won her 46th career singles title by defeating Caroline Wozniacki in three sets in the final. Then, at the Australian Open, Williams made it to the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam championship for the first time since the 2010 US Open. She defeated Camila Giorgi in the third round having to recover from a set and break down to reach the second week of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and then overturned a three-match losing streak to Agnieszka Radwańska before losing to Madison Keys after being up a break in the deciding set. Williams had her 16-match winning streak at the Dubai Tennis Championships ended by Lucie Šafářová in the third round. Her next tournament was at the Qatar Open where she saved a match point in a heated encounter versus Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round before defeating Agnieszka Radwańska for a second time in 2015 to advance to the semifinals. She ended up losing in three sets to Victoria Azarenka. Williams competed at the Miami Open, where she won against Samantha Stosur in the third round and Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round (scoring her fourth top-10 win of the season and improving her head-to-head record against Wozniacki to a perfect 7–0). In the quarterfinals, she was defeated by Suárez Navarro, in three sets.
In September 2016, in response to WADA database leak, Williams confirmed the usage of banned substances classified by WADA as Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs), stating: "The applications for TUEs under the Tennis Anti-Doping program require a strict process for approval which I have adhered to when serious medical conditions have occurred".
Williams entered Wimbledon as the number 10 seed. She defeated Elise Mertens, Wang Qiang, Naomi Osaka and Ana Konjuh to reach the quarterfinals for the 13th time in her career, where she defeated the 2017 French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko in straight sets. This was also her 100th career match at Wimbledon. She advanced to her ninth Wimbledon final by defeating Johanna Konta, in straight sets in the semifinals. This marked her 87th win at Wimbledon, the third most on the all-time list. This also marked the first season since 2003 that Williams reached two slam finals. Williams lost the final in straight sets to Garbiñe Muguruza. She gained the No. 9 ranking by reaching the final, her second appearance in the top 10 in 2017; she had briefly returned to the top 10 in 2017 by virtue of beating Angelique Kerber in Miami.
On June 9, 2017, Williams was driving in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida when another car collided with her SUV before she cleared the intersection, a crash that killed a 78-year-old man and injured another person in the second vehicle. Police originally said that Williams was "at fault" for the crash, but on December 21, 2017, authorities determined the crash was caused by an unidentified third driver.
In 2018, Tennis Magazine ranked Williams as the eighth-best female player of the Open Era.
In May 2020, both the Tennis Channel and Newsday ranked Williams as the eighth-greatest female player of all time.
Her first official tournament back was the Top Seed Open, where she defeated Victoria Azarenka in the first round, then took on sister Serena for the 31st time in the second round, losing to her in a tight three-set match. Williams then fell to Dayana Yastremska in the first round of the Western & Southern Open. Following the tournament, Williams dropped to no. 67 in the WTA 31 August 2020 rankings.
Despite her injury-plagued season in 2023, Williams announced her intention to return to action in March. While her injuries forced her to miss the Australian Summer hard court swing, she said her target was to participate in the American hard court tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. She lost in the first round of both tournaments.