Tennis icon Venus Williams became the oldest woman in over 40 years to compete in singles at a grand slam when she took the court at this year’s U.S. Open. At 45, Williams is the second-oldest player to ever compete in a singles match on the circuit.
Williams led the fight for women to receive equal prize money at Wimbledon, the sport’s most prestigious event. For years, beginning in 2005, Williams lobbied the All-England club (which hosts Wimbledon) to award equal money.
The fight was not without pushback. The keepers of the status quo pointed out that women played shorter matches than men and trotted out plenty of other sexist tropes. Williams remained undeterred and continued to speak out publicly for equal prize money.
The All England Club finally agreed in 2007 to award equal prize money, and Williams made sure she was the first to receive it, winning Wimbledon in 2007 for the fourth time.
“Sexism isn’t a women’s issue any more than racism is a Black issue,” Williams wrote in a 2021 op-ed for Vogue magazine. “Men need to understand gender equality is about equal opportunities for women rather than men relinquishing power.”
Last month, Mattel decided to commemorate Williams’ stand against sexism in tennis with a new Barbie doll in her likeness. The doll features Venus Williams in the outfit she wore at the landmark 2007 Wimbledon and went on sale Aug.15.
Black Girl Magic: It’s in her hair
Venus Williams was the picture of grace and beauty at her first U.S. Open in 1997. She was tall, lanky and powerful with eye-catching beads.
The beads in her hair were the source of her strength and Black Girl Magic.
Not everyone thought so.
Romania’s Irina Spirlea purposefully shoulder bumped Williams during a changeover in the semi-finals, prompting Richard Williams — the bombastic father of Venus and Serena — to loudly decry racial incidents the family experienced on tour.
Racist comments about the noises and “distraction” of Williams’ hair and beads permeated the early part of her career.
Williams was penalized a point during the 1999 Australian Open when some of her beads fell out during a match against Lindsay Davenport.
During the match, a chair umpire warned Williams because a strand of her hair fell out attached to a bead. He later penalized her when it happened again, prompting Williams to confront him at the chair and refuse to shake his hand after losing the match.
Davenport, and the media at large, defended the ruling, saying that Venus should not have been surprised at the penalty since “she had already been warned.”
“Being Black, they can always say it’s racism or something like that.”
Racial strife came to a head in 2001 during an event at Indian Wells.
Knee tendinitis forced Williams to withdraw four minutes before a semi-final matchup against her sister Serena, prompting revolt from disappointed fans. Accusations were made that the Williams sisters were essentially fixing their results, and that Venus was faking her injury.
As Venus and her father, Richard, made their way to their seats the next day to watch Serena compete in the Indian Wells final, a cascade of boos was hurled at them. Richard claims a patron told him, “If it was ‘75, I’d skin you alive,” and that the N-word was directed at both him and Venus.
The boos continued throughout the match, directed at both Richard/Venus in the audience and Serena down below on the court.
In the days that followed, the media attacked all members of the family, questioning why they made claims of racist behavior on the part of the Indian Wells crowd, whether their matches were fixed, why Venus hadn’t even limped to her seat for the final if her knee was truly injured.
Martina Hingis, one of the top players on the tour at the time, said Williams’ claim of racism at Indian Wells was “nonsense”.
“I definitely don’t feel there is racism on the tour,” Hingis said in 2001. “Maybe by being Black, they have a lot of other advantages because they can always say it’s racism or something like that, and it’s not the case at all.”
The incidents and race issues did nothing to dim Williams’ rising star. During her peak from 2000-2007, she reached the finals of Wimbledon six times (winning four), and won the U.S. Open twice.
Williams used her length to track down impossible shots, possessed a devastating first serve and dominated every opponent except her sister, against whom she competed in 9 Grand Slam finals over the course of her career.
She won 4 Olympic gold medals and amassed over $42 million in prize money.
Williams’ prime and much of her career were cut short by a string of devastating injuries and illnesses, including a battle with Sjogren’s Syndrome.
Her ailments prompted her to advocate for Black women’s health awareness and she has missed most of the last several years trying to get herself to full strength.
“I love playing”
It all came full circle in the 2025 U.S. Open.
Venus Williams stood tall and proud as the New York City crowd rained down cheers on her in her first round match against 11th-ranked Karolina Muchova, who was four years old when Williams won the event for the first time in 2000.
A spectacular forehand smash accompanied by a vintage scream in the third set gave the crowd a flash of the athletic dominance Williams enjoyed in her youth.
As Serena looked on from the stands, Williams surprised the crowd (and broadcast crew) with her fitness and mobility at age 45, and looked formidable in the second set, which she won 6-2.
Ultimately, Muchova was too much, closing Williams out 6-1 in the third set, but Williams left to another ovation (in stark contrast to the jeers two decades before at Indian Wells) and respectful words from Muchova.
“I love playing,” Williams said following the match. “What did I prove to myself? I think for me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play healthy.”
Williams did continue on, playing doubles with young Canadian star Leylah Fernandez.
The two made it all the way to the quarterfinals Tuesday night, losing to Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova.
Townsend, a Black player who was born in Chicago, was the recipient of a racial incident earlier in the U.S. Open when her opponent, Jelena Ostapenko, told her she “had no education and no class” and threatened Townsend, telling her to “see what happens when we play outside the United States.”
But Townsend had the example and leadership of Venus Williams to draw from and said so after Tuesday’s defeat of the iconic Williams and Fernandez.
“Venus is a legend,” Townsend said after the match. “The earliest memory is obviously watching her in the U.S. Open. I loved her back-out Reebok dress. That’s what drew me to tennis. Growing up watching her and Serena was an inspiration. It was an honor to share the court with her.”
Venus Williams is synonymous with grace, dignity and leadership. If 2025 is it for Williams, it was an honor indeed.
