50 Years of Influence, US Open: Venus Williams

Published Aug 21, 2018

WATCH—Stories of the Open Era - Williams sisters return to Indian Wells:

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In the five decades since the first US Open, these are the players, innovators and newsmakers whose contributions have helped make it one of our nation’s essential sporting events

“At the time it felt dangerous,” S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated wrote of the 1997 US Open. “Few, if any, sporting events in America had been so charged, so flammable.”

Looking back, it’s hard to believe so much heat could be generated by a 17-year-old’s debut. But Williams wasn’t just any 17-year-old. She and her family had been talked about in tennis circles for nearly a decade, and when she arrived on tour, she was everything her father, Richard, said she would be.

Venus had played just two Grand Slam tournaments, and won just one match between them, but she tore through the draw at Flushing Meadows to reach the final. And she did it in her own big-serving, bead-wearing style. SI summed up the tournament when it put Venus on its cover under the headline “Party Crasher.”

“I’m tall, I’m black, everything’s different about me,” Williams said.

Fast forward two decades and Venus no longer looks so different; at 38, it’s her longevity that sets her apart. In 2017, Venus again went deep at the Open, and joining her in the semifinals were two other black women, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys. Playing in the junior final was Coco Gauff, a 13-year-old African-American who, with her big shots and quiet confidence, brings to mind a young Venus.

Rooting for all of them from the stands was a more diverse audience than ever. Over the last 21 years, Venus has helped make the US Open a little more open, and a little more representative of the U.S.