Former world number one
Venus Williams has shared one of
her biggest milestones in her career. The 45-year-old won a lot of accolades in
her illustrious career. Despite being aged well over 40, Venus has not officially
announced her retirement yet.
During her career, Venus won seven Grand Slam titles as
well as four Olympic gold medals. Three of those came in the doubles category, whereas in 2000, she also won the gold medal in the singles category.
Williams recently appeared in an interview with
lofficialitalia.com
where she explained that becoming the first women’s player to receive equal
prize money as men’s was one of her most significant milestones. According to Venus,
that moment was a milestone for ‘all women’. “Being the first woman to receive
equal prize money with men at Wimbledon was a milestone for me, and a victory
for all women, in sport and beyond,” she said.
Venus also spoke about the impact tennis had on her life.
The California-born player was of the opinion that tennis has ‘given’ her
everything and that it has also changed her ‘life’. Venus stated that tennis has taught her many valuable lessons in life, including resilience and discipline.
“It has given me everything,” she said. “It has changed
my life and shaped the person I am today. It has taught me resilience and how
to be not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well. It has taught me
discipline, the importance of showing up, working hard and committing day after
day to achieve your goals. And, perhaps most importantly, it has given me
confidence. Confidence in myself, in my abilities and a sense of power that
goes beyond the tennis court. Tennis is an incredibly competitive sport. It
taught me to be strong, to stay focused under pressure, and most importantly to
bounce back from losses."
Venus also spoke about the overall direction women’s sports
have taken in the recent past. She stated that she is delighted to see that women’s sports in general are getting all the recognition they deserve. “I
think tennis and all women's sports are moving in the right direction,” she
said. “Every step forward is important and women's sports are getting more
recognition than ever. It's been incredible to see the success of all the
athletes in the Olympics, in the WNBA basketball, in women's hockey and in
soccer. I am a huge supporter of the need to continue to invest and believe in
women's sports.”