Venus and Serena Williams were born 15 months apart into one of the most ridiculous — albeit successful — sporting pipe dreams ever formulated.
Their father, Richard, had watched the women’s singles finals of the 1978 French Open and heard that the winner, Virginia Ruzici, earned $40,000 in prize money. That, Richard noted, was more than he made in an entire year.
Richard quickly told his wife, Oracene, that they needed to have two daughters. He wanted to raise them in a strict and isolated manner while training them to become tennis champions who could make the family rich.