...............SERENA AND VENUS WILLIAMS...............
Briefs:
Name: Venus Williams
Gig: Professional Tennis Player, Current Olympic Champion
Born: June 17,1980 in Lynwood, CA
Age: 19
Height: 6'1 ‡"
Name: Serena Williams
Gig: Professional Tennis Player, Current Olympic Champion
Born: September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, MI
Age: 17
Height: 5'10"
Notables: These super-close sisters make winning tennis matches a family affair. That may have to do with the way they were introduced to the game. Richard Williams taught all five of his daughters tennis at a young age (Venus was 4 and Serena started when she was 5). The family was living in Compton, CA and playing on the neighborhood courts of South Central Los Angeles. Venus and Serena took a special interest in tennis that their sisters didn't share and Richard Williams saw bright futures for his daughters.
Venus, who at Wimbledon 1998 slammed a serve at 125 mph, was the first of the two to reach the U.S. Open finals in 1997. However, it was Serena who took the victory in 1999 to make her the first African American to win the Open since Althea Gibson in 1958. The sisters kept up their assault on the record books with the Sydney Summer Games. Venus won solo gold with her convincing solo run, and then teamed up with her sister to score gold in the doubles competition. The sisters won their 22nd straight match as a team in the most convincing Olympic doubles win ever.
The tightest of friends, these sisters support each other through all of their matches. The two have even played against one another. However, the girls laugh off the notion of competition between them, claiming the other sister's win helps motivate their own game. Venus sums up the importance of family by stating, "Tennis is a game-not your life. We really believe in family. We both just try and go out and do the best we can."
..taken from an article at
http://www.whymilk.com/celebrities/swilliams.htm