"Richard Williams really raised Super Women" - Serena Williams speaking in French to her daughters Olympia and Adira River delights fans
Serena Williams has caught the imagination of tennis fans once again, thanks to her latest video where she addressed her daughters Olympia and Adira River Ohanian in French.
Taking to Instagram on Christmas day, the 23-time Grand Slam champion shared a video where her children were "working out" together. Olympia is six years old now, while Adira River was born just earlier this year. In the clip Williams posted, Olympia was seen helping her baby sister with the physical activity.
What impressed fans on social media most was the fact that Serena Williams spoke to her daughters fluently in French while watching over them. For those unaware, the former World No. 1 is a polyglot and is fluent in five languages: English, French, Italian, German and Mandarin.
One fan credited her father Richard Williams for raising Serena and her sister Venus Williams (who is also a polyglot) to be "super women." Others, meanwhile, were stunned to discover the fact that the American icon was well-versed in French.
"Richard Williams really raised Super Women," one fan commented under her post.
"ow waiiit.. Serena speaks French??? On adore," another fan tweeted.
Serena Williams on her father Richard's influence on her: "He was and still is way before his time"
Speaking in an interview a couple of years back, Serena Williams had touched on her father Richard's influence on her, hailing him for not allowing either himself or their family to be broken by anyone. For that reason and many others, the 23-time Grand Slam champion was of the opinion that he was ahead of his time.
"You see, when someone is different—when they don’t act or look how a person assumed they would—the first reaction is often fear," Serena Williams said. "They think, 'How do we break them?' My dad anticipated that, but he would not allow himself or his family to be broken. He was and still is way before his time."
Richard Williams, speaking to Sports Illustrated way back in 1999, shed light on the way he brought up his daughters. He revealed that he made them start working since the age of two. Even if his wife got upset about it, the American stuck to his guns, reasoning that it would help them one day when they had to be out in the world on their own.
"My kids were brought up working. Every kid in the house was working at two years old; Venus and Serena were delivering phone books. I taught my kids to be very, very independent. My wife would get upset about it, but I didn't care who got upset. One day that kid would have to be on her own," Richard said.