Back in Compton, Richard Williams used to encourage his two youngest daughters — Venus and Serena — to verbalize their dreams. It was better to say a goal out loud, he figured, than to keep it a secret.
So as he taught his kids how to play tennis, he’d routinely ask them to imagine capturing a major championship. Which one will you win first, he’d ask. Which one do you want the most?
Venus would always say Wimbledon, drawn to the pristine grass courts and proper air about the oldest of the game’s major championships. Her younger sister, Serena, went the opposite — the U.