"I would never tell my daughters to tank a match" - When Richard Williams addressed accusations of pre-deciding clash between Venus and Serena Williams
Richard Williams, the father of Venus Williams and Serena Williams, spoke out about the allegations that he predetermined the outcome of the match between his daughters at the 1999 Lipton Championships.
Venus defeated Serena 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the Lipton Championships final. The clash in Miami marked the first time that the Williams sisters faced each other in a title match. It also introduced the world to a rivalry that would go on to become one of the best in the sport, if not the best.
In 1999, Venus defeated Serena at the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne.
The two have faced off professionally 31 times, with Serena leading the series, 19-12.
That day in Florida, Richard Williams let the world know his daughters had arrived: https://t.co/t6q8mnJLsx
However, there quickly arose rumors that their father had already decided the outcome of the match and that Venus deliberately stumbled in the second set.
During a post-match press conference in 1999, Richard Williams discussed the allegation. He asserted that he would never advise his daughters to forfeit a match and that he didn't particularly care which of them won.
"I would never tell my daughters to do that," Richard Williams said, adding, "As a matter of fact, I really think my daughters should get off that concrete as soon as possible. I wouldn't care who win. If they could have won it in ten minutes, that would have been great enough for me. I would have been sad for TV, but I would love to see my daughters off that concrete as soon as possible."
"I would never tell my daughters to tank a match. It's like telling a person to give up. We don't teach giving up. We teach our kids that, You didn't come here to start a match, you came to win the match," he continued.
"I really think Serena Williams had a better chance at making it than Venus" - Richard Williams
Richard Williams also disclosed that at first, he believed Serena Williams had a better chance of succeeding than her older sister Venus. In order to defeat well-known male tennis players like Pete Sampras and John McEnroe with force in practice sessions, he said Serena Williams had to master drop shots and angles.
"I really think Serena had a better chance at making it than Venus. I really didn't feel the same way. By the time we really got Serena involved, we had Mr. John McEnroe, she would hit sometime with him. Pete Sampras, before Pete Sampras became really as huge as he is right now, we had a lot of professional peoples," he said.
"Because Serena couldn't beat those guys with power, she had to learn to do angles and dropshots. Right now Serena is hitting angles and dropshots better than anyone. I think she have a better chance than Venus," he added.