Venus Williams believes that it just takes one person to believe in you, even when nobody else will, to motivate you to do what many think is impossible.
Venus has spoken glowingly of the support she has received from her sister Serena.
The elder Williams sister has been criticized for accepting wildcards while sporting a ranking outside the top 500.
However, she feels that she has unfinished business on the tour, and the belief her sister shows in her encourages Venus to push on.
Venus stunned 16th seed Veronika Kudermetova to secure a place in the second round of the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati and said that her sister’s faith proved a big inspiration.
“She texted me after. She had a lot of encouraging words to say. She just is encouraging me to, you know, just to rise to be my best, because she believes in me, and she knows what I have inside of me,” Venus said at the post-match press conference.
“It’s nice to have obviously her because she knows and she knows what position I’m in and what it’s like to be in this position. She knows what it’s like to have something to give, but, like, you just need that opportunity. So, it’s nice that she believes in me,” she said.
Venus Williams also joked about wearing an all-pink attire to her opening match at the 2023 Cincinnati Open.
Her victory against Kudermetova was the former world No. 1’s first against a top 20 player since upsetting the then-defending champion Kiki Bertens at the same event in 2019. Following that incredible victory, Williams had suffered series of losses in her next ten matches against top-20 opponents.
After defeating Kudermetova, Venus Williams improved her season record to 3-5. Her previous victory came in June at the Birmingham Classic against Camila Giorgi.
The Cincinnati Open’s official website recently turned to social media to post a couple of photos of the seven-time Grand Slam champion draped entirely in pink for her match against Veronika Kudermetova. Williams also wore pink hair and a strong shade of bright red lipstick to complete her on-court fit.
“Pretty in Pink 🎀 #CincyTennis,” the official page of Cincinnati Open captioned their Instagram post.
Williams would reply to the post by resharing it to her stories with the added caption: “Barbi problems”.
The Williams sisters were trailblazers in many ways and the unique sense of fashion they brought to the court has to be one of the great gifts bestowed on the game.