Venus and Serena Williams were born on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood1, California, and on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw2, Michigan, respectively3, into a black family.
When Venus was four years old, her father taught her how to play tennis. Venus loved the sport. One day, she hit a thousand balls and begged for more. Two years later, her father taught Serena how to play.
Growing up, Venus and Serena lived with their father, mother, and three older sisters near Los Angeles, California. The Williams family was poor. They couldn't afford to buy tennis balls, so they played with old ones they found. They played on public courts with nets that were falling down. Still, the girls practiced and dreamed.
Venus wanted to win Wimbledon4, and Serena the U.S. Open5. Only one black woman, Althea Gibson6, had ever won those Grand Slam7 tournaments in over a hundred years.
“If you believe in yourself, it can happen,” Mr. Williams told his daughters. The two sisters practiced their strokes8, serves9, and volleys10 up to six hours a day.
When Venus was nine, her parents signed her up for a tennis tournament. They thought seven-year-old Serena was too young. Feeling left out, Serena mailed in an entry form11 with her own money. Mr. and Mrs. Williams were surprised to learn against whom Venus would play in the final. It was Serena! Venus ended up winning that competition.
The girls took lessons at a tennis school in Florida. They listened to tips from their father and other coaches. They learned quickly and became better players every year.
When Serena was 17, she defeated Switzerland's Martina Hingis12 — the number one player in the world at that time—at the 1999 U.S. Open championship. Her childhood dream had come true!
The next year, the two sisters faced each other at the Wimbledon semifinals.
On July 4, 2000, America's birthday and a historic day in Wimbledon, England. Venus Williams, 20, and her 18-year-old sister, Serena, were competing against each other for one of tennis's highest honors—the Wimbledon trophy13. They were the first sisters to compete in the women's semifinals in 116 years! But only one sister could advance to the finals two days later.
Serena was nervous. She had beaten her old sister only once.
Venus looked sad. When she was a little girl, she held a Wimbledon trophy in her hands. It belonged to tennis champion Chris Evert Lloyd14. Venus had dreamed about holding her own Wimbledon trophy one day. She just wished she didn't have to beat her little sister to make her dream come true. If only it wasn't Serena on the other side of the net.
At 6'1", Venus is three inches taller than Serena. With her long legs and arms, she can reach almost every ball. She has the fastest serve in women's tennis. Serena is very muscular—and strong. The game began and the two sisters hit the ball back and forth very hard.
Venus won the first set, but Serena came back in the second. Then, at match point15, the net snagged16 Serena's serve. Venus won! Yet it was not a happy victory for her to see her little sister lose.
Two days later, Venus defeated the number two player in the world, Lindsay Davenport17, for the Wimbledon title. This time, Venus leaped into the air with joy. She had made her dream come true.
Venus kept on winning. She was the champion at the 2000 U.S. Open and a two-time gold medal winner at the 2000 Olympics. Venus picked up her first gold medal in women's singles. She collected her second doubles with her partner—Serena! Venus is the first American woman to win singles and doubles at the Olympics in 76 years.
“It's my highest achievement,” Venus said of her Olympic victory. And the doubles victory meant most to her, Venus said, because she shared this victory with Serena—her sister, and her best friend.
In the year 2001, Venus has further strengthened her status as an outstanding tennis player through a series of wonderful performances. She defended her title at New Haven18 by beating Justine Henin19, Jennifer Capriati20 and Lindsay Davenport the week before the U.S. Open. She also successfully defended her Wimbledon title by defeating Belgian teenager Justine Henin 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 and predicted that Wimbledon would be a great place for her for years to come. She won in Hamburg by defeating Meghann Shaughnessy21, 6-3, 6-0 and in San Diego by defeating Monica Seles22, 6-2, 6-3. In the Ericsson Open final, she came from behind to defeat Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 6-1, 7-6. She won ESPY award23 for Outstanding24 Women's Tennis Performer.
It seems that Serena has always been put in the shadow of her sister. But actually, she has also done a very good job in 2001. She won her first title of the year at Indian Wells, Calif. She also defeated Kim Clijsters25, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win a title. She reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Serena and sister Venus went on to win the doubles Grand Slam trophy, though both expressed disappointment in their singles performance.
少女时代
姐姐维·威廉姆斯1980年6月17日出生在加州的林恩伍德，妹妹塞·威廉姆斯1981年9月26日出生于密歇根州的萨吉诺，她们的父母是黑人。
大威廉姆斯4岁的时候，父亲开始教她打网球，她喜欢这项运动。有一天，她击球1000次，还要继续打。两年后，父亲开始教小威廉姆斯打球。
威廉姆斯姐妹整个少年时代都同父母亲还有3个姐姐住在加州的洛杉矶。她们家很穷，买不起网球，就用捡来的旧球打，她们打球的公共网球场的球网很破旧。尽管如此，姐妹俩刻苦练习着，心里充满梦想。
大威廉姆斯想赢得温布尔登网球赛的冠军，小威廉姆斯想赢得美国公开赛的冠军。在一百多年的历史里，只有一个黑人妇女阿尔希亚·吉普森曾经赢得过大满贯赛冠军。
“如果你相信自己，你就能做到。”父亲告诉女儿们。姐妹俩练习击球、发球、截击，每天长达6小时。
大威廉姆斯9岁的时候，父母给她报名参加一个网球锦标赛，他们觉得7岁的小威廉姆斯还太小。感到自己被“瞧扁了”，小威廉姆斯就用自己的钱邮寄了一份报名表报名参加比赛。威廉姆斯夫妇很吃惊地得知将与大威廉姆斯争夺冠军头衔的，竟是她妹妹小威廉姆斯！结果大威廉姆斯赢得了比赛。
姐妹俩上了佛罗里达一所网球学校，她们向父亲还有其他的教练学习。她们接受能力强，球技一年比一年长进。
小威廉姆斯17岁的时候，在1999年的美国网球公开赛上战胜了当时全球排名第一的瑞士选手辛吉斯，她儿时的梦想变成了现实！
第二年，姐妹俩在温布尔登网球赛半决赛中相遇了。
姐妹大战
2000年7月4日是美国国庆日，也是英格兰温布尔登具有历史意义的一天。20岁的大威廉姆斯和18岁的妹妹小威廉姆斯兵戎相见，争夺网坛最高荣誉之一的温布尔登网球赛桂冠。她们是116年来第一对进入半决赛的姐妹，但只有一个能够进入两天后的决赛。
小威廉姆斯有些紧张，她只赢过姐姐一次。
大威廉姆斯看起来很忧伤。她还是小女孩的时候，曾经手捧过温布尔登网球赛奖杯，但那奖杯属于网球冠军克丽斯·洛伊德。大威廉姆斯梦想有一天捧着自己的奖杯。她只是祈祷不要拿自己的妹妹“开涮”。要是对手不是小威廉姆斯就好了。
大威廉姆斯身高6英尺1英寸，比小威廉姆斯高3英寸。她腿和胳膊都很长，几乎能够接到任何来球，发球速度比任何女选手都快。小威廉姆斯肌肉发达，很强壮。比赛开始了，姐妹俩在球场上你来我往，奋力搏杀。
大威廉姆斯赢了第一局，第二局小威廉姆斯扳回一局。在第三局赛点的时候，小威廉姆斯的球下网。大威廉姆斯赢了！然而看到妹妹输球了，大威廉姆斯赢得并不高兴。
两天后，大威廉姆斯击败了世界排名第二的林达赛·达文波特，获得温布尔登网球赛冠军。这一次她高兴地跳了起来，她实现了自己的梦想。
大威廉姆斯势不可挡。她是2000年美国网球公开赛的冠军，在2000年的奥运会上获得两枚金牌。第一枚奥运金牌是女子单打金牌，第二枚奥运金牌是双打金牌，搭档是——妹妹小威廉姆斯。她是奥运会76年当中第一位获得单打和双打冠军的美国女子网球选手。
谈到自己在奥运会上所取得的辉煌成就时，大威廉姆斯说，“这是我取得的最高成就。”她说双打金牌对她来说意义不同寻常，因为这是她同自己的妹妹，也是最好的朋友共同取得的。
最新战报
2001年，大威廉姆斯通过一系列精彩的表演，进一步确立了自己在网坛的突出地位。在美国网球公开赛前的一周她在纽黑文击败了赫宁、卡普里亚蒂和达文波特，保住了自己的冠军头衔。她还以6-1、3-6、6-0的成绩击败比利时少年赫宁，从而成功地卫冕温布尔登冠军头衔。她还预计在接下来的几年当中，温布尔登仍将是她的天下。在汉堡她以6-3、6-0的成绩击败了肖夫南西，在圣地亚哥她以6-2和6-3的成绩战胜了塞莱斯；在爱立信公开赛决赛当中，她后来居上以4-6、6-1和7-6的成绩战胜卡普里亚蒂。她还获得ESPY颁发的杰出女子网球选手奖。
对小威廉姆斯而言，她似乎总是处在姐姐的阴影之下，但实际上，2001年她也有不俗的表现。她在加州的印地威尔斯获得她自己该年度的首次冠军。她还以4-6、6-4和6-2的比分击败了克里吉斯特斯获得冠军。在澳大利亚公开赛上，她打入四分之一决赛。她和大威廉姆斯搭档赢得了大满贯赛事的双打比赛，尽管姐妹俩对她们的单打比赛都表示失望。
1． Lynwood n． 林恩伍德，美国加利福尼亚南部一城市
2． Saginaw n． 萨吉诺，美国密歇根州东部港市
3．respectively adv．分别地、相应地
4． Wimbledon n．温布尔登，英国英格兰东南部城市，位于伦敦附近, 是著名的国际网球比赛地。这里指温布尔登网球赛
5． the U．S． Open美国网球公开赛
6． Althea Gibson 阿尔希亚·吉普森，生于 1927，美国网球手，第一位在温布尔登参赛的美国黑人女选手（1951年）。1957和1958年在温伯尔登分获单打和双打冠军
7． Grand Slam 大满贯
8． stroke n．击球
9． serve n．发球
10．volley n．截击
11．entry form 报名表
12．Martina Hingis 玛蒂娜·辛吉斯，1980年12月30日出生于斯洛伐克
13．trophy n．奖品，奖杯
14．Chris Evert Lloyd克丽斯·洛伊德，美国网球运动员
15．match point 为获胜所必需的最后一分，指盘点或赛点
16．snag v．阻挡、阻碍
17．Lindsay Davenport 林达赛·达文波特，美国网球运动员
18．New Haven纽黑文，美国康涅狄格州南部城市
19．Justine Henin 贾斯泰·赫宁,比利时网球运动员
20．Jennifer Capriati詹尼弗·卡普里亚蒂，美国网球运动员
21．Meghann Shaughnessy梅根·肖夫南西，美国网球运动员
22．Monica Seles莫尼卡·塞莱斯，1973年12月2日出生于南斯拉夫，1994年3月16日正式加入美国籍
23．ESPY award 颁奖礼，有“美国体坛奥斯卡”之称，由ESPN主办
24．outstanding adj．杰出的
25．Kim Clijsters金·克里吉斯特斯， 1983年6月8日出生于比利时