Its like realizing a dream, Venus tells me.
I always wanted to be on that show.
It was more exciting than winning any match.
DOUBLE VISIONVenus and Serena Williams wear matching gowns by Carolina Herrera. Sittings Editor: Camilla Nickerson. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz,VogueMay 1998.
Serena, sixteen, is equally thrilled: I cant stop thinking about it.
I could do this, like, every day.
Rookie Serena beat Monica Seles and Mary Pierce in a single tournament last fall.
Twenty-eight-year-old Steffi Graf and 24-year-old Monica Seles are literally old news.
When she lost to Lindsay Davenport in Sydney, a fistfight broke out over her towel.
One sportswriter refers to this dazzling lineup as big babes bashing tennis balls.
She even has a necklace made of dice that spells out Venus #1.
Venus repeated her prediction last March, even after she lost to Hingis.
She said it again?
asked an indignant Hingis.
I mean, one day if Im probably not playing anymore she could get there.
And they have a good story.
And there are two of them.
It was definitely the new WTA chief executive officers dream.
Well, this is a second-round match, and its tremendously important.
They are going to turn this sport around, Sara Fornaciari, the IGA tournament director, says.
They deserve everything they get.
I have never seen anything like their media skills.
No less an expert than Jay Leno agrees.
Youre gonna be huge.
Serenas just as adept.
That was my evil twin Selena.
She was giving Serena some bad advice, but luckily Serena came back in the second.
Selena was back at the beginning of the third again, but Serena closed it out.
Meeting the press in Oklahoma City, Venus asks Serena if shes worried about anybody giving her trouble.
Just this one girlshe kinda looks like me.
Im sorry to take you out, the elder Williams told her sister.
But, you know, I had to.
Youre not really having fun if youre not being yourself.
They do love to have fun.
When I ask Venus why she hates to sign autographs, she says simply, Its not fun.
Fun is mugging for each others cameras.
(I love that camera, Venus says of her tiny Pentax.
Venus approves: All right!
Mom looks at me and shakes her head.
No, but its a good show.
They relive every second of the mornings supermarket sweep, falling over in triumphant laughter each time.
Venus tells me she loves Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers guard, because he really inspires me.
She shoots Serena a look.
And what are you doing?
I speak fluent Ebonics and English.
I am currently in high school, and I have read Hamlet.
Mom rolls her eyes.
Serena, you are a nut.
Their act aside, both girls are serious about school.
She says she has a knack for fixing her dog when somethings wrong.
Shed also like to do gowns.
But right now I dont have anywhere to go.
They grew up with three older sisters in crime-ridden Compton, California.
Devout Jehovahs Witnesses, they preached door to door and went to the Kingdom Hall three times a week.
The Williamses eventually went back to coaching the girls themselves, a move that has received criticism.
I think they should applaud him for believing in what he believed.
I think a lot of times you have to go with what you think is best for your child.
She travels with her daughters to every match.
Id never let my kids stay with a stranger.
They never even had a babysitter.
When her oldest child was young, she had a nightmare that she was molested in preschool.
I made up my mind to stay home and teach my kids.
She didnt go to work as a nurse until Serena was well into elementary school.
Every few minutes Richard hugs one of his daughters: Thats great, Venus.
I love you, Serena.
Youre a great daughter.
Forward, Serena; stay down, V; watch the wrist, Serena.
Serena, if you keep standing up you gonna become a loser.
Youre getting on my nerves now.
You know what Im talking about, right?
Dont go on defense, Venus; everything is offense.
When Serena blows Venus away, he says, Very good.
Now, thats surviving.
But he is also wickedly funny.
In any case, there seems to be little chance of anyone getting too big a head.
Brandi will not let the girls fly first-class, not even to Europe or Australia.
Im just not going to pay all that money.
I feel like Im cheating somebody who needs it.
This is the subject of one of her daughters favorite schticks.
In second class, Serena says, people are unruly; the bread is hard and cold.
In first class, everybody has their business papers and stuff.
If you could lean over you could probably learn to make some money.
In second class, if you dont watch out, theyll steal your wallets.
Mom has heard all this before.
If it were up to me," she tells me, Venus wouldnt even have a car.
But it wasnt up to me.
Right, Venus teases: If it were up to you, wed all be eating rice and barley.
At the supermarket, while the girls plan strategy for the sweep, Brandi compares prices.
I cant believe that these juices are $7.
I dont pay that at home.
They are, after all, not too long out of Compton, California.
They were probably having flashbacks.
He has a few himself.
In the ghetto where I come from, youd wait 20 years before finding a penny.
Now hes a man in a hurry.
He answers his hotel-room phone, Venus?
When the tournament director runs five minutes late to take us to the supermarket, he paces.
Time is important to me, man.
Say 7:30, mean 7:30.
Thats like people in the ghetto, thats why they there.
I could be doing something, man, making money.
After practice, we swing by the hotel to pick up what Serena calls units.
The pink, Venus says, goes great with brown eyes.
Its definitely stunning, but it clashes with my current wrist-wear.
And I have nowhere to wear it.
I run into all kinds of problems, dont I?
This is definitely a piece.
The saleslady offers it for $1,999.
Can I show my sister?
Sister, trying on a pair of $79 gold loops, approves.
It would take me so long to break down and buy something like that.
Venus says she’ll think about it.
In the shoe store, things really pick up.
Yeah, girl, says Brandi, because spring is coming up.
My calves are skinnier than yours, she tells her sister.
And then to her mother: I cant help it.
But Brandi is too busy dancing to Rod Stewarts Were Having a Party to care.
Ive gotten a little cheap lately, she says.
Thats good, says Brandi.
You might keep your money a while longer that way.
Oh, my God, shrieks a girl brandishing a tournament poster.
The beads are even awe- somer in real life.
Six days later, Venus wins the tournament and they both win the doubles.
Next stop, California and Jay Leno.
When I tune in, Venus is in the chair, looking like a million bucks.
I look at her wrist.
She has on the gold, sapphire, and diamond bracelet.
Perhaps Hingis should watch out.
She is a girl who gets what she wants.
