Behind every successful athlete, there are great sacrifices of their loved ones. The case of Serena Williams was no exception.

The American legend received tremendous support from her parents, who gave it all to the careers of Serena and Venus Williams. While Serena Williams’ father, Richard Williams trained her daughters in the sport, her mother, Oracene, provided backend support.

Together, they helped the Williams sisters reach the heights that would prove difficult for any sibling pair to get in tennis. Earlier today, the younger Williams sister provided intricate details of how her parents supported her career.

Earlier this week, Williams attended the 2024 New York Times DealBook Summit. During an interview there, she talked about her iconic career, what it’s like to be the GOAT, and her next steps in the business world.

In one such discussion, she was asked how her parents contributed to her career and her rise to stardom.

Williams revealed, “I say that if you have to take a human body my dad was a body and my mom was a spine and I think there’s no better way to describe it that’s how important and into us, she was to us to our family to my career um and uh yeah she really particularly with me she worked on my mental toughness more than anything else.”

USA Today via Reuters

Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time that Williams has spoken highly about her mother’s contribution. She once revealed how different she was in the approach than her father, saying, “When we were kids, it was mostly just me and my mom. She was working a lot, that’s true, but almost all of my one-on-one training was with her.

She’s a lot different from my dad in her approach. She’s tough – a real no-nonsense lady. It was all about the drill with her and I remember thinking it was really boring on her court.”

Further, Williams’ father also played a pivotal role in her development. There was also a movie made on how Richard Williams trained her daughters in the sport.

The documentary, named ‘King Richard’ portrays Will Smith as Richard Williams and shows how the Williams sisters’ father worked hard day in and day out to leave Serena and Venus Williams on the path to stardom. Eventually, the hard work paid off as the two went on to become legends of the game.

Moreover, the contributions of the Williams sisters’ parents are no secret. During an interview, the childhood coach of Serena and Venus, Rick Macci, once highlighted why Richard Williams stood out from the rest.

Rick Macci on Serena Williams’ father: ‘A parent like none other’

At first, it was Richard Williams who identified the talents in her daughters at a very young age. Eventually, he became their first coach and used to take them to the public tennis courts in Compton to train.

A few years later, Rick Macci joined their team and became the first professional coach of Venus and Serena Williams. Working with Richard Williams closely, Macci knew that he was not like other parents.

Highlighting the difference, Macci once said, “It can cut both ways. Many fathers don’t realize that their kids are kids first and tennis players second and that’s how they can mess up their chances.

Their hearts are in the right place out of love but they get blinded by stardom, money whatever, so they got to be careful. That’s why I love Richard Williams, he was more of a psychologist, a parent like none other, he treated them like kids because he knew they were only going to be kids once.”

Indeed, King Richard set a perfect example for the parents of children in sports. What do you think about the coaching style of Serena Williams’ father? Let us know your views in the comments below.