Venus Quitting Soon? (link) [Archive]

srg1

Apr 8th, 2002, 07:25 PM

Why does he say these things? To make sure his daughters know they are smart? They will have plenty of time after tennis to make investments with all the money they are making with tennis.

Venus Should Quit Sport Soon, Says Father
Mon Apr 8, 9:14 AM ET

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - Wimbledon (news - web sites), U.S. Open (news - web sites) and Olympic champion Venus Williams (news - web sites) should quit tennis and younger sister Serena should pay less attention to her game and hit the books, according to their father, Richard Williams.

On the eve of the Bausch & Lomb Championships, where Venus is top seed, Williams senior said Venus should focus her energies more on business interests.

"If it was up to me, I told Venus two or three years ago that she should retire. I really think she should," Williams said.

Venus held the world No. 1 ranking briefly in March and is currently ranked second in the world, but her father still feels she is not fulfilling her potential.

"Venus is a rare human being when it comes to education, business, business knowledge and a lot of other things that go along with business like finance, investments and things like that," he told Jacksonville newspaper the Florida Times-Union.

"She is a rare quality that every now and then you see in life. I've tried to get Venus to understand that."

Serena, U.S. Open champion in 1999 and runner-up to Venus last year, did not escape her father's critique.

"I think Serena puts a little too much emphasis on her game of tennis," he said. "And if she keeps that up, she can turn out to be one of the dumbest athletes in the world."

:( http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020408/sp_nm/wta_venus_dc_1:(

Jeff

Apr 9th, 2002, 07:27 AM

I certainly agree. I think this time Richard has gone too far. I definetly agree with the sisters going to school and preparing themselves for life after tennis, but why give up tennis now? Sure they have accomplished a lot already, but they still have so much more to do for tennis. They have worked hard and been given the opportunity to live out a dream that not many fans of them or tennis ever get to do.

The sisters are at an age now where they can make their own decisions. I hope in this particular case, they do make their own decision. If they quit this soon, I will be very, very, very sad :sad:


TennisForum.com > Player Forums > Enter Player Forums > America > Team USA > Venus Quitting Soon? (link) PDA Venus Quitting Soon? (link) srg1 Apr 8th, 2002, 07:25 PM Why does he say these things? To make sure his daughters know they are smart? They will have plenty of time after tennis to make investments with all the money they are making with tennis. Venus Should Quit Sport Soon, Says Father Mon Apr 8, 9:14 AM ET AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - Wimbledon (news - web sites), U.S. Open (news - web sites) and Olympic champion Venus Williams (news - web sites) should quit tennis and younger sister Serena should pay less attention to her game and hit the books, according to their father, Richard Williams. On the eve of the Bausch & Lomb Championships, where Venus is top seed, Williams senior said Venus should focus her energies more on business interests. "If it was up to me, I told Venus two or three years ago that she should retire. I really think she should," Williams said. Venus held the world No. 1 ranking briefly in March and is currently ranked second in the world, but her father still feels she is not fulfilling her potential. "Venus is a rare human being when it comes to education, business, business knowledge and a lot of other things that go along with business like finance, investments and things like that," he told Jacksonville newspaper the Florida Times-Union. "She is a rare quality that every now and then you see in life. I've tried to get Venus to understand that." Serena, U.S. Open champion in 1999 and runner-up to Venus last year, did not escape her father's critique. "I think Serena puts a little too much emphasis on her game of tennis," he said. "And if she keeps that up, she can turn out to be one of the dumbest athletes in the world." :( http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020408/sp_nm/wta_venus_dc_1:( Jeff Apr 9th, 2002, 07:27 AM I certainly agree. I think this time Richard has gone too far. I definetly agree with the sisters going to school and preparing themselves for life after tennis, but why give up tennis now? Sure they have accomplished a lot already, but they still have so much more to do for tennis. They have worked hard and been given the opportunity to live out a dream that not many fans of them or tennis ever get to do. The sisters are at an age now where they can make their own decisions. I hope in this particular case, they do make their own decision. If they quit this soon, I will be very, very, very sad :sad: