"MALE REPORTER:" "What do you want to be when you g row u p?" "Tennis player." "I would Iike to be a tennis player." "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d" "ARNOLD RAMPERSAD:" "One of the greatest mysteries of modern American history, I think, how two girls from Com pton could go down as among the greatest tennis players ever." "FEMALE REPORTER:" "What's your am bition for Venus and Serena in tennis?" "For both of 'em to become n um ber one in the world ." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "A girl whose dad calls her and her sisters the kids from the ghetto, the girls from the ghetto." "richard williams:" "Ghetto makes you real strong, real tough, real brave." "Make you to a point that you believe you can do anything, and you will." "I remember the braids, and I just remember they were, Iike, really black." "They were, Iike, bIack-bIack." "They weren't, like, country club black." "They were black like I'm used to." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "A match that's of great interest to everybody, the williams sisters playing each other for the very, very first time in a tournament." "MALE COMMENTATOR 2:" "That's it, Venus able to beat her little sister Serena." "president clinton :" "At first, I just saw them as a sports fan." "Serena, she was only 1 7 at the time, and she just gave this aura out that, you know, once she mastered her power, nobody in the world would be able to beat her." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "From the public courts of Compton, california, to U.S. Open champion." "CLINTON :" "It was the feeling you get when you see Lebron James or Dwight Howard dunk a basketball." "That's the aura she gave out even at 1 7." "DAVE RINEBERG:" "Venus can get from doubles sideline to doubles sideline in three strides, so there's not a ball you can get past her." "She's got the heart of a champion." "[grunts] [cheers and applause] d I'm the phoenix rising d d Champion d d With the heart of a warrior d" "It really surprised me when both of them were that good." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Sisters Venus and Serena williams won the women's doubles title today, the first sisters to win olympic gold in tennis." "VENUS WILLIAMS:" "Two black girls from Compton probably weren't supposed to ever play tennis or let alone be really good at it." "RICK MACCI :" "Two U.S. players, sisters, same household, same bedroom, prime time, Saturday night, U.S. Open." "No one could have scripted that ever." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Venus and Serena williams have made tennis history." "They're the first sisters and the first African-Americans ever to claim the top two spots in the world rankings." "Venus is ranked number one." "Serena is right behind her at number two." "JON WERTHEIM :" "No player had their number." "There wasn't sort of this nemesis that really stood up to them." "FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Game, set, match." "[cheers and applause]" "Miss Serena williams." "Two sets to Love." "7-6, 6-3." "d Yeah, yeah, yeah d d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "This young lady last year enjoyed success at the French Open, at the wimbledon Championship, and the U.S. Open, and now she's opened the new tennis year with an australian Open championship." "We're calling it the Serena slam." "Part of their attraction is that they were these incredible, magnetic, athletic goddesses, and they're gladiators on the court, fashion gladiators, and tennis gladiators." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Sisters just 1 5 months apart." "What would be the odds they could not only choose the same profession, but dominate it?" "The story goes that you're really not even that big a fan of tennis, that you kind of looked at this sport as a great way for your family to raise itself up and make some cash." " ls that true?" " That is so true." "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Venus williams, champion again." "VENUS:" "My parents told me I'd be number one in the world." "I was brainwashed." "CARLOS FLEMING:" "They were each other's greatest rivals." "If there were no Venus or there were no Serena, you could nearly double either of their Grand slam titles." "dick ENBERG:" "Rod Laver Arena." "There is a little girl that came out to celebrate her third Aussie Open championship." "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d d This is the moment d" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Venus's fifth WimbIedon title." "She did it without dropping a set." "Venus and Serena also won 1 2 doubles Grand slam titles." "This is a, you know, a wildly successful doubles team." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "The williams take the australian Open." "MACCl:" "No two people have influenced the game of tennis in this past 25 years than Venus and Serena." "They transcended the sport." "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d [cheers and applause]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "special day in the special life of a special champion," "Serena williams, for a fourth time, wimbledon champion." "d This is the moment that I've waited all my Iife for d d I'm the phoenix rising, champion d d With the heart of Serena d" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "According to a report in People magazine," "Serena williams is hospitalized in Los angeles" " after having emergency treatment - [heart monitor beeping] for a blood clot in her lungs." "You guys have a leopard cast?" "Which, I had a Iot of blood clots bilaterally in both of my lungs." "I talked to Venus on the phone, and I said, "Well..."" "and I was like, "It's been swollen for a few days," ""but now it's just getting worse."" "And so she said, "You have a blood clot,"" "and I was like, "I don't have a blood clot."" "A doctor that I had said," ""Take her to the emergency room immediately."" " See you later." " I don't feel anything." " You're gonna feel it." " We love you." " Love you." " I'ma call Mom." " Bye." " Let her know you good." "ORACENE PRICE:" "When I got the call that she was in the hospital," "I was just really in shock." "And I don't know if she realized how serious it was." "I'm so grateful that she went, because she could have died just by not knowing." "DOCTOR:" "Does that hurt?" "SERENA:" "Yeah, I've been really worrying lately, Iike, maybe I hurt it like this." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "beautiful day here in melbourne." "The sun's out at last." "MALE COMMENTATOR 2:" "1 8 degrees at the australian Open." "Serena's had a Iot of public health issues, but during that same time," "I've also been going through a Iot of my own issues." "I'm still on a kind of down-and-out road." "For me, tennis has always been a part of my Iife." "It's just who I am." "I've been playing since I was four years old, so not only do I Iove the game, I love the challenge." "I Iove the pressure." "It's wrapped up into who I am." "GIRLS:" "We love you, Venus!" "[grunts]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Venus 30 years of age." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "And you've got to say, a veteran of the tour." "Many wondering if there is another major in her." "[screams]" "VENUS:" "I just screamed from the pain." "You know, it was just involuntary." "I was able to win that match, but I was finished after that." "[cheers and applause]" "FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Game to Miss Williams." "[cheers and applause]" "But I wanted to go out and know for sure 1 00% that I couldn't play." " [grunts] - [whimpers]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "She's in trouble." "VENUS:" "The pain I was in was an impossible pain, so it was something that is-- you know, you don't play through." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "That's it." "That's it, I'm afraid." "[crowd booing]" "The crowd feel a little cheated, I guess, sadly." "Right now she in there pissed." "I mean, she's probably saying," ""Now, what kind of reaction was that?"" "VENUS:" "I'm gonna fight." "Been fighting for a Iong time, so I can fight longer." "[distant siren]" "MALE REPORTER:" "Now we want to introduce you to a proud father, a man who is pushing his daughter, Venus williams, to be the best in the world." "Good racket speed." "Good racket speed, Venus." "Speed that racket head up." "Richard Williams, he supposedly bought a book or some DVD or something and sort of said," ""I'm gonna teach these kids how to play tennis,"" "in some really tough part of Los angeles." "d Straight outta Compton d" "ISHA:" "We grew up on Stockton Street, Compton, California 90221 ." "That's where we grew up." "And I'ma tell you something." "There was nothing remotely un-hood about it." "You got to win." "No, you gonna win." "Now, aren't you?" " You gonna win for us?" " Mm-hmm." "Good girl." "That's all I'm asking." "RICHARD:" "How do you feel the way you're hitting the ball right now?" "Good, Daddy." "How about your feet." "Your feet moving around?" " No, Daddy." " How about yours?" " Yes, Daddy." " Very good." "So what we want to do-- you know, don't get excited." "This is your game." "Richard was going around and begging private country clubs" "like Riviera Country club and others to give him their used balls." "And he would then fill up a shopping cart and an old volkswagen bus." "VENUS:" "We didn't talk on the phone." "We didn't go to school parties and all that stuff, but somehow I didn't feel like I missed out." "I mean, there's probably a few things I wanted to go to, but I figured I wasn't gonna go, so I didn't ask, and anyway, most of the time, I was at practice." "She was, I guess, the guinea pig, in a sense." "Venus, absolutely, there was so much pressure on her to become a great player that, you know," "Richard was talking about it every single day to every newspaper in the country, you know, so she definiteIy-- she had it the toughest." "If you down with your feet flat like a 97-year-oId person, you'II never be a tennis player." "HARDY:" "Richard was very, very protective, and he generally would never let anyone around the girls." "He was extremely protective, 'cause he has seen so much." "Richard Williams was from Shreveport, Louisiana, and came from a very small town, and he was raised, you know, by a single mother who instilled in him some really great values, but the things that Richard saw transformed his thinking" "and his outlook really on everything, and justifiably so." "He had seen men beaten." "He had seen, you know, people denied opportunity." "He grew up in an era where, you know, the "colored only" sign was standard." "A Iot of things went wrong here." "Right here is where six or seven guys held me down and actually took a nail that goes in a cross tie and nailed that sucker right into my leg." "The reason they would do something like this is simply because I wouldn't call them "mister."" "And I don't think it was fair for me to call no one "mister"" "that always called me "boy" and "nigger"" "and always trying to kill me." "MALE REPORTER:" "Did you think you could beat her?" "I know I can beat her." "MALE REPORTER:" "You know you can beat her?" "Very confident." "I'm very confident." "You say it so easily." "Why?" " VENUS: 'Cause I believe it." " [Richard interrupts]" "REPORTER:" "But--we can't keep interrupting." "I mean, if you want" "You've got to understand that you're dealing with a immature 1 4-year-oId child." "And this child gonna be out there playing when your old ass and me gonna be in the grave." "When she say something, we done told you what's happening." "You're dealing with a little black kid, and let her be a kid." "She done answered it with a Iot of confidence." "Leave that alone!" "MALE REPORTER:" "What do you feel inside when you're on the court?" " I feel good." " I feel good." "What didn't I do to try to copy Venus when I was younger?" "I mean, her favorite color was my favorite color." "Her favorite animal was my favorite animal." "She wanted to win wimbledon." "I wanted to win wimbledon." "FEMALE REPORTER:" "She is tennis prodigy Venus williams, and she's also our Sportswoman of the Week." "SERENA:" "It was very difficult being in the shadow of Venus, because ever since I can remember," "Venus was always in the newspapers and always, you know, in the press." "SERENA:" "I was never supposed to be good." "I was never the one that was supposed to be, Iike, a great player, but I was determined not to become a statistic, so that's the only reason I played tennis." "And, you know, I was a copycat, basically." "Serena, she didn't have that power when she first started, so had to try to beat you different ways." "She would hit angles." "She was trying drop shots." "And then once she got her power level up, her serve became as dominant as Venus's." "FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Game, Miss williams." "[applause]" "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "She hasn't played since Wimbledon of last year." "I know Serena hopes to be back." "Her target, at Ieast the French Open this coming spring." "What if the layoff extends beyond that?" "How difficuIt-- she's 29 years old now-- for Serena to come back." "SERENA:" "Part of my lung is dead to the" "I'm never gonna get it back." "ASSISTANT:" "Yeah, where's your shot?" "SERENA:" "I just had things keep happening to me." "After that, I had to thin my blood after I got out of the hospital." "The worst part is pricking." "Like, once you get over the prick, you're good." "SERENA:" "Every day, I had to take a shot, and one day, as my luck would have it," "I hit a blood vessel, and it gave me," "like, this massive lump on my stomach that wouldn't go away, and it got bigger and bigger, and it got really, really painful." "ASSISTANT:" "You take your antibiotic?" "Oh, no, I didn't take my antibiotic." "SERENA:" "They had to, Iike, surgically remove it, and then they had to put a tube in me to keep draining it." "Then I had that drain in me for ten days." "And day ten, I'd had enough." " Hi." " Hey." "SERENA:" "Tashie." "How are you?" "Everyone's popping in at once." " Yeah, I'm all right." "Oh." " Oh." "d And forever d" "SERENA:" "I was stuck in my house for over two weeks." "I couldn't leave." "I couldn't do anything." "I just basically was house ridden." "And then I just got into this karaoke thing." "I just started singing and singing and singing, and next thing I know, I couldn't stop." "d Don't ever let me go d" "I really do think it became, Iike, a rehab for me." "BOTH : d Amazing grace d d How sweet d" " d How sweet d - d The sound d" "My hip's okay." "It's been a real slow process." "RADIOLOGIST:" "VENUS:" "I feel like I'm just trying to get better." "I feel like I haven't done anything in my career, and maybe that sounds ridiculous, but I feel like I have to do so much more." "I'm tired." "It's hard today." "There's not a sport that tears your body up worse than tennis." "You have to run in tennis the whole time." "There's no time-outs." "One match can go on forever." "A tennis player doesn't have a long career." "My wrists hurt a Iot when I do that." "I know I complain about a Iot of injuries, but my shoulder hurts a little bit." "[laughs]" "So I can't." "Can't wait to get stronger." "You're doing good." "You know, I first heard about the williams sisters," "I was at a junior tournament, the Easter Bowl, and I was there with a bunch of kids, and an agent came up to me, believe it or not, and said, "There's a girl from california."" "Name was Venus williams." "I'd written a plan before they was born." "78 pages." "And the plan was for Venus to be a champion." "Richard Williams, I think he called me one day and said," ""l'd like for you to take a look at my daughters."" "I said, "Well, hey, if they're ever in florida, give me a call."" "'Cause I've never really jumped on a plane to go look at someone." "I said, "This guy's kind of crazy." ""This could be interesting,"" "so I decided to go out there one weekend." "So we go on the courts, and they're all beat up, and there's broken glass everywhere." "They start hitting balls after about ten minutes." "And I say it's a waste of my time simply because, you know, I got the best kids in the country." "I just had Jennifer Capriati, who'd just turned pro at 1 4 years old." "So I got a real good blueprint of what greatness is." "And then Venus goes, "Daddy, can I go to the bathroom?"" "and so she goes out the gate, and for the first ten feet, she walked on her hands." "And then she went into a backward cartwheeI for the next ten, and I went up to Richard, and I said, "You know what?" ""lf they get strokes, I think you got the next michael Jordan on your hand,"" "and he goes, "No, brother man, I got the next two."" "We'd Iike to thank Mr. Rick Macci," "Venus' coach, for being here also." "Y'aII have been very demanding, and we really appreciate that." "MACCI :" "I funded the project." "I moved the whole family from California." "I put Richard on the payroll, 'cause he left his security business in california." "All that was done in that age 1 0 to 1 4 timeframe, the foundation was laid." "If you see him go like this on his backswing, get in." "Save--I got a letter from Richard williams, and really, what it says without going through everything, it just says, "You're a great coach." ""You're gonna get so many bonuses," ""and you'll always be my daughters' coach forever."" "MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Our first player this evening was born in Lynwood, california." "please give a warm Bay Area welcome to Venus williams." "[cheers and applause]" "MALE REPORTER:" "Richard, are you nervous?" "Yes, somewhat." "Uh-huh." "MALE REPORTER:" "What do you think tonight is gonna be like?" "I think that tonight will be a very different night for us, most unusual, and one that we have planned for for a Iong time, and now it's here." "MACCI :" "When she went into her first pro tournament in oakland, california... [cheers and applause]" "And then the firestorm media rise just went through the roof." "There was no doubt that this kid would be number one in the world." "[cameras clicking]" "I was very excited." "You know, a little nervous in the beginning, but it turned out well." " Thank you." "Thank you." " Venus." "Venus, here." "MACCI :" "When someone wins the lottery, $1 2 million from Reebok, and two days later after they got the contract, they moved to West palm Beach and built their own courts." "And Richard kind of took over the coaching." "WOMAN :" "And how did that feel to you?" "That's a left hook out of nowhere." "You have to understand a parent's position in this." "You know, the coaches are all over them." "They want to coach the kid, and then later downstream, they might be looking for their compensation." "It's a very murky area." "WOMAN :" "Are there any coaches in your life that you want to talk about?" "I would consider all my sisters my coaches." "The foundation was laid by Richard, and the rest of it was taken to the mountaintop by Rick Macci." "I worked with billie Jean King and Zina Garrison, so those two, I think, have definite-- have had influence on me in my Iife and game." "WOMAN :" "Rick Macci says he spent a lot of time with you guys." "VENUS:" "We did work with Rick for a few years, but I think my dad is the one that had the most revolutionary ideas in terms of changing the game." "We worked with my dad from conception to, um, until now." "Richard imparted his training methods, unorthodox though they were, to the girls." "Our dad taught us this kind of power game." "He said, "Pitchers are the best arms,"" "so he made us throw footballs and baseballs." "And we used to throw our rackets." "HARDY:" "Literally picking up 50, 1 00 rackets laying on the ground, and they would throw the rackets forward so as to simulate the forward throwing motion." "VENUS:" "Sometimes we'd, Iike, run with tires, or I remember he said boxers has the best feet, and we needed faster feet, so" "We even had a professional boxer in a sandpit going every day." "If they didn't move, they would get popped." "Nobody was really hitting voIIeys out of the air, not on the women's tour, but he saw it somewhere, took that shot, refined it." "MACCI :" "They had ballet." "They had jazz." "They had dance." "They had tae kwon do." "And he always wanted to make them tougher and rougher, and he'd say, "Rick, I want someone to play Venus today who cheats a Iot," ""maybe a kid that doesn't like us."" "No other parent would do that." "And this is when they were, you know, 1 0 and 1 1 years old." "ORACENE:" "Venus was on her dad's court." "Serena was on mine." "He claimed he couldn't handle Serena." "She crazy." "I told her different." "I made her believe in herself." "I made her think that she can get to any ball." "SERENA:" "She was never pulling while my dad was pushing, and I think that was really, really important." "And I also think, Iike, my dad-- l always describe it as my dad being the body and my mom being the spine." "Like, neither one can exist without the other." "I just think that the teamwork was unbelievable." "I just got to get ready." "I got to be fit." "I got to--I have so many pieces that go in the puzzle, and more than anything, I have to play without fear." "Right now I'm fearful when I move or when I do this." "It's like, "ls this gonna break, or is this not gonna work, or"" "You know, it's a horrible place to be mentally, but I have to just somehow overcome all that." "SASCHA BAJIN :" "So I should just live in the gym." "The first three, four days, just stand and work on the rhythm, work on your strokes, work on your technique." "Gaining a little confidence with your foot, with your toe, with the movement." "I just want to play, you know?" "Like, I'm going crazy that I can't play." "I'm never gonna, Iike, retire unless I have to." "BAJIN :" "I don't know. [laughs]" "also, Iike, I can't think like that." "I just-- so I don't know, Iike" "You just worry too much." "SERENA:" "I know." "My mind" "You really just worry too much." "SERENA:" "There are, Iike, little people in there going crazy." "BAJlN :" "You have too many people telling you too many different things." "But, like, I feel like if I couId just fix my mentaI-- [grunting]" "I couId--I'II be fine." "Oh." "Oh, no, no, no." "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." "BAJIN :" "One more." "SERENA: [wincing]" "I think I'd Iike to start the family meeting out with the positives." "First of all, I want to talk about the great things" "I have been doing." "[laughs]" "When they're in florida, they live together." "They practice together." "They're doing the same thing." "They have the same goal." "Serena, thank you for paying half the rent and keeping this establishment the fine place that it is." "billie JEAN king:" "adorable thing happened at Fed Cup." "They came in, and there was a big chair, and that was the only place they could really sit." "There was--I thought," ""Oh, we have to get another chair or something."" "They said, "No, we can sit here."" "They were trying to scoot in this chair together, and their hips are touching, and I am cracking up because I thought that what it was telling me how close they truly are connected." " VENUS:" "Get her in trouble." " [laughs]" "assistant:" "This is the L5-S1 treatment." "THERAPIST:" "You're gonna be over here." "You got to treat her, Serena." "[both giggling]" " SERENA:" "relax." " VENUS:" "No." "SERENA:" "I'm so hungry." " You have fish here?" " Yes." "SERENA:" "Is it in the freezer?" "VENUS:" "Fridge." " Hmm?" " Refrigerator." "Oh, it's in the refrigerator?" "Oh, my gosh." "I'm gonna cook some fish." "It's so ridiculous." "Serena will call Venus her husband or her wife or whatever." ""That's my wife." "Oh, yeah, that's my wife."" "She'II come home and be like, "I got to cook, 'cause, you know"..." "[laughs]" "There's not a Iot of it, huh?" "Oh, it's a fillet." "Isha:" "I think it'll be difficult if and when that time comes." "You know, if they get married, um, and have to have families of their own and" "Venus was like, "I'm never moving."" "and Serena was like, "well, if you're not moving, I'm not moving."" "I know they're not twins, but in a way, they are." "And their whole life experience has been within the shadow of the other person." "There's very little that's happened to any one of them that the other has not been privy to, maybe even an eyewitness to." "And so if you try to marry into that arrangement, it wouId be a very unique arrangement to say the least." "They would have to be two brothers." "SERENA:" "Yeah?" "[both laughing]" "I think they were teenagers when we-- '98, they must have been teenagers." "We sent Annie Leibovitz down to florida and photographed them in carolina Herrera ball gowns." "MACCI :" "Each week, I'd be getting calls globally." "[speaking French]" "MACCl:" "From TV, print, radio, Japan," "China, netherlands, Sweden, holland, Great Britain." "I mean, it just went on and on and on." "Besides every major periodical, every one, in the United States, magazine or print, would call." "KATIE COURIC:" "Tennis megastar Venus Williams is capping off an incredible year with a huge endorsement deal, the biggest ever for a female athlete." "This is a big deal in more ways than one." " financially, it's an important step" " Mm-hm." "for African-Americans." "It's an incredibly important step for female athletes." "Here's a kid, $1 2 million contract." "She hadn't even played that much, and she has a kid sister." "You know, she's walking around like maybe she owns the world, but she's not acting like that." "The world's coming after her, and there's a lot of jealousy." "There's a Iot of resentment for all these reasons." "And there's an intimidation factor." "When we first came out," "I think that Serena and I were criticized a Iot more than, you know, some of our counterparts who weren't African-American." "There's been so much divisiveness about Venus williams on and off the court." "The fact that she and her mom and sister stay in such a tight little knot away from the rest of the players in the locker room." "ORACENE:" "And I wanted them to be women of color and be proud of who they are and not let anyone make them ashamed of it, and that was the main purpose of the beads, 'cause it shows their heritage and where they come from." "And she was just a little bit cocky, you know, and" "like she's the best in the world." "They always have a big mouth." "They always talk a Iot, so" "It happened before." "It's gonna happen again." "MACCI :" "It was a heated match against Venus and SpirIea." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Watch this." "As they reach the chair area, watch SpirIea kind of whistling along there, and it looks as though she deliberately collided with her opponent Venus williams." "MACCI :" "SpirIea's in her chair, and she's looking up at her coach, and she was like, you know, laughing about it, because she knew she had moved purposely in front of Venus to bump her." "She thinks she's the [bleep] Venus williams and that's it." "She's not gonna tour." "No." "I'm sorry she feels that way, but it's not really a big thing to me." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "will Venus be ready in time for this month's French Open or June's WimbIedon?" "williams is recovering, but the winner of 21 Grand slam titles and three olympic medals is far from retiring." "VENUS:" "Mentally, I'm ready to play the matches because just haven't played in so long." "I had a good call with my doctor." "Um, and he was surprised at how much I was training." "And he's like, "Oh, jeez." "Five days a week?"" "I said, "I'm running." "I'm doing this." ""I can hold my own legs up now."" "I'm a professional athlete again." "[laughs]" "Two." "Three." "Right now, mentally I'm there." "mentally, 200% ." "And I think that's all that matters." "I don't know physically a percentage, but I know mentally, I'm there." "Hi, Vicky." "It's Esther with Serena williams." "Is Dr. Drazen available?" " Hello?" " Hi, Dr. Drazen." " lt's Serena and Esther." " How are you guys doing?" "DOCTOR:" "Fantastic, fantastic news." "Your chest CT scan shows absolutely nothing." "I am hereby officially certifying you off Coumadin." " ESTHER:" "Wow." " Oh, thank God." "ESTHER:" "Congrats." "DOCTOR:" "AII right, which means that you still have to behave yourself over there." "[laughs]" " ESTHER:" "You know her well." " l'm on my best behavior." "DOCTOR:" "Yeah, was that you laughing over there?" "Uh-huh." " Yeah, of joy." " DOCTOR:" "Okay." "It's just been such a hard fight, you know?" "DOCTOR:" "You are now, you know, completely okay to just restart all training, as much training as you possibly can." "You're good to go." "Sound good?" " Yeah." " Sounds good." "Good luck with everything, and keep me in the loop, okay?" " Okay." " Okay." " All right." " Thank you." " Bye-bye." " Bye." "[Esther clapping]" "ESTHER:" "No more Coumadin." "[laughs]" "[laughter]" "That's so inappropriate." "ARNON MlLCHAN :" "I thought when I bought Puma I could combine a inner-city cinderella story, an African-American girl going straight to the heart of the white man land and kick their butts." "SERENA:" "We end up going to Los angeles." "He has all these fabulous movies, and so, you know, we sit in this big office." "I think I'm, Iike, 1 6." "And then Serena points a finger at me." "She goes, "Excuse me, sir." ""Do you have any doubt I'm gonna be number one in the world?"" ""I don't know." "How about top ten, top five?"" "She says, "What will you give me if I win the U.S. Open this year?"" ""Do I get another million bonus?" ""Or can I get a $2 million bonus?"" "I said, "Okay, I'II give you $2 million."" "She says, "Okay, write it down."" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Serena williams is still getting better and better and better." "SERENA:" "I'II never forget, my dad said," ""This is the moment we've been working for all our lives." ""Stay focused and take your chances and don't be afraid,"" "and I really took that conversation to heart." "[cheers and applause]" "I always say that match changed my Iife and my career, and I'II never forget, she was serving, and I remember thinking, "I got to go for it."" "And I said, "Serena, if you don't go for it now," ""you'II regret it for the rest of your life." ""Even if you miss, you just got to go for it."" "And she served the ball, and I remember, I hit a forehand as hard as I couId down the line." "[grunts] [cheers and applause]" "And that kind of set the foundation for the rest of my career, was just going for it." "You know, Iike, sometimes you just got to go for it." "[grunts] [cheers and applause]" "SERENA:" "It was so unexpected, and, you know," "I hadn't won anything at that point." "Well, first of all, I'd Iike to thank my God Jehovah because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today, and I'm very excited about everything, and, um... [applause]" "I would Iike to also thank my dad and my mom, 'cause they have been great parents, and all my sisters and the support, and" "WOMAN :" "VENUS:" "I think at the time, not to win the first major was tough for me, because I felt like I should have, as the older sister, been able to step up and do more and be tougher." "I didn't know how to win." "I didn't know how to close a match out." "I didn't know how to fight." "I don't think that came naturally to me." "Serena, it came more natural to her." "It's a defining moment of, Iike, how are you going to react to something like that?" "Am I gonna learn from her example, or am I gonna crumble?" "So I wanted to Iearn." "MALE REPORTER:" "Do you ever watch Wimbledon or the French Open and say to yourself, "I might play there someday"?" "Yeah." "Yes." "I do." "REPORTER:" "What do you think about?" "Hmm." "I think about..." "I have a wild card in the first round." "I have a bye in the second round." "I get to play someone that you never heard of in the third round and the fourth round." "And I get to the finals, and I win." "d Her name is Venus d" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "And she finally gets a championship." "d As it is written, so shall it be d" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "The one trophy she says she's dreamt of since she first started playing tennis is hers." "d Down to florida d d I'm ready d" "MALE COMMENTATOR 2:" "Making her way to family and friends to share the moment." "So a hug from Serena." "What a lovely moment this is." "Well, it really was a most athletic performance, a marvelous, marvelous moment." "And the first African-American champion here since the great AIthea Gibson, who won twice in '57 and '58." "She went on to win four more before I won another one." "Venus said Serena showed her how to win." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "well, everybody has been talking about the return of the williams sisters." "Serena was gone for practically a year." "She had to battle with a variety of injuries." "Venus Williams also in only her third tournament of the year, so if you're asking me to make a call on who will win the women's titles," "I'm gonna go out with Venus." "I got to take a shot before I jump on the plane." "I haven't done this in so long." "I'm a little nervous, I have to say." "I've been out for a Iong time." "The last time I went on the road," "I got on the plane, and my foot, Iike, broke literally at that moment, so today I'm thinking, "God, God, I hope nothing happens."" "I'm wasting too much time." "Yeah, you need to just pack a bag." "You want your blankie?" "Don't forget to call me." "You need anything, just call me." "I'm always here, okay?" "Even when they've taken time off because of injury or illness, they've come back and competed as hard as they possibly can and often won." "I mean, you can just never ever count them out." "They step on that court to win." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "well, we're just days away from the most prestigious event in world tennis, and, yes, it is that WimbIedon time of year again." "201 1 marks WimbIedon's 1 25th birthday." "We're staying at the same place, right?" "Yeah, we stay at the same place." " I hope so." " AII right, love you." " Love you too." "Bye." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Every tournament that either one or both of these players are at is abuzz, from the crowd to the press, and even the other players, they've missed these two great champions over the past 1 2 months." "richard:" "Excuse me, ma'am." "Security?" "Is he with you guys?" "I'm the club photographer." "RICHARD:" "I don't care who you are." "You're on the hill." "Excuse me." "PHOTOGRAPHER:" "I'm allowed to be here." " WOMAN :" "Is he not with you?" " RICHARD:" "He's not with us." "No, but I'm the club photographer with a "W,"" "and we are allowed to be here." "RICHARD:" "You have to be on the hill up there." " Okay, would you just come with me?" " Yeah, sure." "[grunts]" "I would hit that topspin serve, Iike what you're doing." "[grunts]" "RICHARD:" "One." "That's a one." "One." "One." "ORACENE:" "That's just annoying." "That "one" is annoying to them and to me, and I have no idea what it is." "I don't even think they do." "MAN :" "And what about when you say "one" and "two"?" "well, we don't want to put that on tape right now, but they know what it mean." "[laughs]" "Guy pretty sharp, huh?" "Oh, I hate when my dad says that so much." "That means--I don't know." "It means that I didn't look at the ball, and I let him say it 'cause it's, Iike, his thing, but he's, Iike, so frustrating." "With my dad, I'm kind of," "like, having an argument in my head with him." "Sometimes I find it distracting." "RICHARD:" "More on the outside." "You got your shot." "Make it." "There you go." "Damn it." "[grunts]" "elbow up a little higher, Venus." "Step forward." "Catch it early." "[grunts]" "Keep in mind, if the elbow is up, every ball gonna go over the net." "Every ball gonna go over." "ORACENE:" "I hate that too because it doesn't make sense, 'cause it's not "elbows up."" "You know, you have to swing through." "RICHARD:" "That's the way." "Turn the shoulder." "shoulder." "Serena, some kind of a way, you got to move up to the ball." "WOMAN :" "Do you have anything to say about Lakeisha, Mr. Williams'..." " ORACENE:" "No." " current wife?" "No." "I don't know anything about her." "More power to her." "[laughs]" "only advice is--The only advice I could say is run." " [laughing]" " Do not pass "Go," do not collect $200." "I mean, who could stay married to Richard?" "I love him, but if I was a woman," "I'd divorce him after I say hello." "I don't think he's, Iike, a one-woman man." "He's a ladies' man." "ORACENE:" "I just had enough." "Let's just say it was enough, and, you know, I put up with a lot of stuff for a Iong time for the kids, and I wasn't gonna do it anymore." "When my parents divorced, I thought it was for the best." "I think it was best for them to go their separate ways." "Yeah, my dad has five other older kids, girls and boys." "Hey, how are you?" "We met them." "I probably was, Iike, 1 1 or 1 2." "It was a shock to my mom, I'm sure." "I believe she was meeting them for the first time, but I never asked her how she felt about that." "WOMAN :" "So did the girls grow up knowing" "No." "They didn't know." " That other family?" " No." "Why was that?" "Just didn't, you know?" "I mean, come on." "WOMAN :" "Who's the son that spends a Iot of time with your father now?" "That guy that was on the court?" "I don't know who that was." "WOMAN :" "He says he's Richard's son." "I know." "I heard him saying "Dad."" "I'm thinking-- I was gonna ask my dad." "I was like, "Why is he calling you"" "I got frustrated, and I Ieft today, though, but he was Iike" "I don't know." "I was like, "Why is this guy calling him 'Dad'?"" "I have no idea who that guy was." "I'ma ask my dad, though." "WOMAN :" "How many siblings from your father's side of the family do you have?" "[chuckles]" "This is so bad." "Um...there's Richard." "There's Ronner." "There's ReIis." "There's Renika." "And they are all Rs." "And, oh, God." "I don't know." "I don't really keep in touch with that side." "Growing up in the williams family, it was five girls." "It was literally Iike" "I mean, obviously, it was a sisterhood, but it was a real friendship." "The difference between Tunde, who's the oldest, and Serena, who's the youngest is eight years." "WOMAN :" "The three oldest, you're haIf-sisters to Venus and Serena?" "Do we have to talk about that here?" "'Cause we don't do the haIf-sister thing." "We're black." "We just don't do it." "The two girls maintain relationships with both divorced parents." "They maintain relationships with others in their family, and most particularly and most uniquely, they maintain a relationship with sisters." "They're super sisters." "MALE REPORTER:" "What's the toughest match you've ever been in?" "Um..." "[laughs]" "probably the one against my sister." "[laughs]" "REPORTER:" "What was it like?" "[sighs]" "horrible." "She won 7-6." "It was good that she won." "It was the first-ever prime time women's final, was September 8, 2001 , when it was Venus versus Serena." "Sister versus sister." "The world of tennis was ready for a fresh breath of air." "Men had dominated up until the time that Venus and Serena came on board." "ENBERG:" "Enter the stadium side by side now." "HARDY:" "They actually changed the programming lineup 'cause the ratings were so high that they moved it from normal daytime Saturday to Saturday night, and you had the world watching." "So it was unbelievable." "This is a great night for tennis in general, and I think the only thing more unbelievable than the women's playing in prime time is the williams' story itself." "It was a very tense and hard thing to watch." "It's stressful to watch them play, because you want them both to win." "You feel there's a little guilt, Iike," ""Okay, I can't clap for Serena." ""I can't clap for Venus."" "clinton :" "No one should ever underestimate-- quite apart from their race or the way they were driven when they were children and all that-- is just the sheer psychological thrill it was for people to see two sisters when they played against each other." "ENBERG:" "Down the line." "I don't think anyone could ever really understand, you know, the level of competition and what it feels like to play your sibling." "[screams] [cheers and applause]" "The champion of the 2001 United States Open," "Venus williams." "FLEMING:" "Who you share a house with, who you travel with, who you share a trainer with." "Obviously, you have the same parents." "You have the same friends." "[cheers and applause]" "SERENA:" "Yeah, I get mad at Venus when she wins against me." "It's so stupid, though." "I hate losing." "I hate losing more than I Iike winning." "OFFICIAL:" "Venus, you and your sister have brought so much excitement and talent to this game of tennis." "clinton :" "They changed the face of tennis." "They made it more interesting to a wider swath of Americans." "I always want Serena to win, and so it's kind of strange, because I'm the big sister." "I take care of Serena." "I make sure she has everything even if I don't have anything." "[screams]" "One of the high points, actually, of the careers of both women and the williams family in general was when they got to the final of the French Open in 2002." "As it turned out, it was the first victory for Serena in a Grand slam over Venus." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "What a great point to end it." "And baby sis has finally won." "MALE COMMENTATOR 2:" "Where's Venus going, by the way?" "Seems to be getting a camera." "She wants something here." "It is a camera." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "To take a picture of her sister." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "To record the moment." "It's possible that at wimbledon this year, she could overtake Venus for number one in the world." "KING:" "I do think, subconsciously, that Venus is willing to give her the spotlight." "I always think Venus is going, "Serena, I know you really need this." ""It's okay." "Go for it."" "MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Game, set, and match." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "And Serena williams has defended her WimbIedon championship." "Venus is a extreme protector." "Serena always had to win, or she always had to be the princess." "Youngest child syndrome, she has that really, really bad." "Serena got the added advantage of being the younger sister." "little less pressure." "I think it's been a little harder for Venus to have to deal with that." "I would say out of the eight finals, that Serena's won six of them." "I had a brother that played professional tennis, and something tells me that I wouldn't be as forgiving or understanding or-- clapping." "I see Venus clapping." "I guess it's the ultimate blood is thicker than water." "I feel like I should take lessons from them more so than me trying to explain away how the hell they do that." "At the end of the day, it says "Williams,"" "and if you lose, maybe one day someone will mistaken for the other williams, whatever, fill in the blank, "V" or "S."" "P.A. ANNOUNCER:" "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." "May I have your attention please?" "We will shortly be opening the gates." " Grunting?" " Yeah." "At least one of your daughters is one of the foremost proponents of grunting." "Do you think that's really helping her game or not?" "Let's see, to grunt or not to grunt?" "That is the question." "And it seems to be all over on the British press and the British mind." "I believe in letting grunt and let not grunt." "Is it something that you talk about a Iot with them or not?" "well... grunting has not been the focus of our conversations." "Um, we more or less talk about technique and how to move your feet and things like that." "[sighs] God damn... bother me about a stupid grunt." "Can't believe it." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "No one knows about Serena." "We know from old it doesn't take long before Serena comes from someone who's out of the picture into the headline story, and that could easily happen here." "Serena has never lost in the first round of a Grand slam in 44 appearances." "[grunts]" "[cheers and applause]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Oh !" "A fantastic rally." "FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "40-Love." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Three match points then for the champion." "[grunts]" "STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Game, set, match, Miss williams." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "It was a terrific third set." "It was a wonderful scrap." "And Aravane Rezai should take so much credit for what she achieved out there, but in the end," "williams in the third set bruised her badly." "And who would bet against her now from making it three titles in a row?" "It's just been so hard, and I never dreamt" "I would be here right now, you know, so it's been a disaster year, but, you know, I've been praying and, you know, have my family, and, you know, I Iove tennis," "and to be able to come back at wimbledon is pretty awesome, and I've just learned that, you know, you can never take any moment for granted, and, you know, I reaIIy-- was really trying to draw spiritually on my God Jehovah," "who I've been really trying to get a closer relationship to." "[Hole Hearted playing]" "VENUS:" "So do you remember this?" "SERENA:" "Oh, all through there." "d Ooh, yeah d" "Do you remember this in Haines city?" "You don't remember this?" "No?" "Come on." "d should have known from the start d d I faII short with the things I do d d hole hearted d" "[laughs]" "You like that song." "I think that the williams sisters are artistic people." "Any artist has to be obsessive, has to have the capacity to concentrate so exactly on what it is they wish to achieve in terms of artistry that you lose a Iot." "I'm not sure that I think I'm a perfectionist." "I know--I would say more or less I am obsessive." "That's something I've worked on on the court too, 'cause I'll" "I would be out there formerIy-- for two hours," "I couId be determined, and I would practice one thing, and before I know it, my court time's done." "Someone else would come and get the court, and I didn't practice anything else." "You know, I hate that every time," "I have to bounce the ball five times before I serve, and the second serve, I just only can bounce it twice." "You've got to be obsessive to be a tennis player." "Gosh, I mean, who else wants to hit 1 7 million balls over the net and then go and do it again the next day?" "Every athlete-- michael Jordan knows," ""Oh, I got to shoot 300 jumpers every day, or else I'm gonna suck,"" "and they got to hit "x" amount of balls every day or," ""I'm going to suck." ""and I've seen people that suck, and I've seen their lives," ""and I don't want to have one of their lives." ""I Iike being good."" "And they like being good." "So they, you know-- you're gonna keep this OCD thing up." "VENUS:" "I think perfectionist people are nuts." "I think obsessive people are a-okay." "You know, you see a lot of players that'II break down if they miss three or four shots." "They start to get mental." "You don't see that out of the williams sisters." "They just stay the course of their matches." "Their mom was always talking to them about being strong women." ""You're gonna have tough times out there." ""Don't let it affect you."" "And their father was always telling them," ""You know, it's us against the world."" "MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Hello." "A very warm welcome to finals day in the women's tournament here at Indian wells." "I can't imagine another experience in sports being as profound as the Indian wells experience." "SERENA:" "It was my favorite tournament to go to." "It was like, "I Iive to go to Indian wells."" "In the semifinals," "Venus decided she couldn't play because she was injured." "And so she yielded a walkover to her sister Serena." "Suddenly you think, "Oh, yeah, well, look, yeah, sure," ""obviously she's giving up the match so her sister can advance."" "A fair number of them, you have to believe, were in the stands the previous night when Venus defaulted and felt they got gypped out of one match, and they're gonna sort of express their disappointment." "[crowd booing]" "FLEMlNG:" "I've never, at a tennis match, heard 20,000 people in unison boo one player." "Serena's looking up in the stands, Iike, trying to find it." "Like, "What's going on?" like, "What am I missing?"" "and then it dawns on her that it was her." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Richard williams walked down, and here's the crowd again." "[crowd booing]" "It's a Iong walk down to the courtside box." "Richard actually stopped and looked at somebody and, uh... it was a very tense situation." "RICHARD:" "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Here was Richard after the heckler and more boos." "[crowd booing]" "MALE BRITISH COMMENTATOR:" "An American crowd booing an American family, and you have to say that it does smack of a little bit of racism." "ISHA:" "When you go to your home state where you're from, couple hours south of Compton, and you're being booed, and the person that they're cheering is this Belgian woman." "She played the first few games, and she was crying." "SERENA:" "Someone called me "nigger,"" "and it was--it was intense." "I prayed on the sidelines, and I pulled myself together." "I didn't pray to win." "I just prayed to get through this and get off this court and just be over this already." "FLEMING:" "Serena got booed from the warm-up to the last point to the trophy ceremony." "well, she won the match because she's a champion, and she has the heart of a tiger." "Have you seen Rocky?" "well, that's her. [laughs] [cheers and applause]" "FLEMING:" "When you talk about Serena's speech, at the end, she says, uh..." ""You guys were pretty tough on me today,"" "and she goes..." "SERENA:" "And I would Iike to thank everyone that supported me, and if you didn't, I Iove you guys anyway." "Thank you." "[cheers and boos]" "ISHA:" "She walked off the court, and she was like," ""I'm not going back next year."" "SERENA:" "The tournament will go on with or without me, but I'm not going back." "I mean, honestly, Iike, you look at people" "like Martin Luther King and malcolm X and Rosa Parks." "If they didn't believe and stand up for what they believed in, then we wouldn't have the freedoms that we experience today." "What I had to go through was so small compared to what they had to go through, and if I can't stand up for something like this, then who am I?" "Like, what have they taught me in history?" "TALESE:" "And the reason they are so special is because they are African-American." "They are African-American sisters, who have been supreme in this former-- in this sport that formerly was an elitist white person's folly." "I mean, obviously, the fact that they're, you know, bIack-- l mean, yeah, Althea Gibson opened things up in the '50s." "film NARRATOR:" "Althea Gibson helped to topple the IiIy-white tradition in tennis by winning the national and wimbledon championships in 1 957 and '58." "McENROE:" "And Arthur Ashe wasn't" "I mean, he paved the way in a way, but he certainly wasn't able to sort of get the-- maybe quite the same chance as they have." "Being black gives everybody a edge, 'cause you just" "Everything's harder, so it's no different than a guy wearing weights around his ankles so he could jump higher." "black is just a weight on your skin." "When you really learn how to maneuver it, you end up doing things faster and more intense, and you appreciate things more, 'cause it was harder for you to get them in the first place." "Some people may think the black athlete is now on a par, an absolute par, with the white athlete." "I don't think that is true, and I think the williams sisters have had to live with that fact that the war is not over, when they have performed with extraordinary valor and courage and skill under difficult circumstances." "FEMALE REPORTER:" "It happened in the 1 1 00 block of GreenIeaf boulevard in Compton." "Yetunde Price, who is the older sister of tennis stars" "Venus and Serena williams, was shot to death." "Um, I was in New York at Fashion Week, and, um..." "And I remember my phone rang, and nobody calls me at night, 'cause my good friends know I Iove to sleep." "And it was such terrible news, obviously." "SERENA:" "Yetunde was my older sister." "We always called her Tunde for short." "ISHA:" "You know, she would, you know, kind of, Iike," "look out for us and make sure that we were taken care of." "She meant a Iot to me." "I guess that's all I can get out right now." "It was their understanding that it was a mistaken identity situation, meaning there was someone else in a white DenaIi with tinted windows whom they were... I guess rival gang-- I mean, I don't know, Iike, you know." "And because her car was like this car, they thought it was that person riding through their neighborhood, and how dare they?" "So they shot the car up." "It's never a day I don't think about her." "ISHA:" "Now we're...we're very close with her kids." "My mother moved to california to help with them." "I can't stop until I figure this out." "JUSTUS BOBBITT:" "I don't think that my grandmother, a lot of time, knows her own value or her worth sometimes." "I don't think that she thinks that she's as good as an influence as she is or she has as big of an impact as she does on not only me, but holding my whole family together." "ORACENE:" "So she got to feel good about herself, and knowing that she can do it and letting go, 'cause she let them go a little bit today, though." "JAlR:" "Every time that she hit a ball that wasn't exactly how she wanted, she got upset." "Yeah, she got upset, but she's off." "Venus is too." "They both are off." " True." " I'm watching her hit." "They're almost doing the same thing." "Make sure that when you're out there today, you don't get so mad at her that you cloud your thinking on the court." "And your feet." "You're not ready sometimes." "Just a little half of a second." "[cheers and applause]" "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Venus is going down her way if that's to be the case." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "That's it." "And Pironkova does it again." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Venus was quite a way below par." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "She really was." "VENUS:" "How do I deal with losses?" "WOMAN :" "Yeah, how do you deal with losses like the one today?" "I used to get really upset." "Like, I wouldn't change my clothes for a couple days." "I didn't wear any deodorant or anything." "It was pretty...pretty nasty." "Or I'd sit on the couch for about a week." "It was pretty tough." "But after a while, I realized I hated feeling that way, so I make sure I move on immediately, within the hour." "You know, I haven't" "You know, I try to fix my mistakes, but I just hate feeling that upset, and it's just miserable, so I refuse to do it." "ORACENE:" "When you go out there to play today, you know they gonna bring their best game out there for you, so you don't--don't you let up." "You bring your best game out there too." "And stay off the bottom of your feet." "Off the bottom." "[applause]" "STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "7-6." "SERENA:" "I was defending champion at wimbledon, so I felt pressure." "I was like, "If I don't win, I'm gonna be ranked," ""like, you know, 200 in the world,"" "and I didn't want that for myself." "I was like, "I've got to win." "I've got to win,"" "and I put so much stress on myself, Iike, you know," "I couldn't hit shots, and I couldn't do anything." "[grunts] [cheers and applause]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Serena Williams, a great champion, and a great effort to try to hang on to the trophy, Lindsey." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "She did." "She was far from her best in this tournament." "And you have to say it's been a bad day for the williams family." "MALE REPORTER:" "A lot of people would probably say if you'd come here after sort of the best part of a year out of the game and waltzed away with the title, it wouldn't necessarily have been a good thing for women's tennis." "Can you sort of appreciate that, and does this result show that it's very competitive still?" "Yeah, I'm super happy that I lost." "Go, women's tennis." "[indistinct chatter]" "Are you gonna eat that Indian food?" "SERENA:" "When the food gets here, can you guys make like a banana and split?" "BAJIN :" " When the food gets here..." " Mm-hmm." "can you make like a banana... and split?" " Oh." " In other words, leave." " Do you get it now?" " Yeah." "SERENA:" "I was really disappointed at Wimbledon when I lost, 'cause I felt like I worked really hard, considering, um, everything." "I felt like I had trained, and I'd trained, and I was really, really upset." "d You need a bodyguard d d My money boy said I would have been a good prez d d But I'ma be a better, mogul music exec d d I shell out money d d The first thing I did was got all hands on deck d" "d A deal for a couple mill d d My life, world tour d d On course, applause d d Cars and jets, mic check d" "What would be the perfect date for either Serena or Venus williams?" "If you're a powerful woman, you know, you're gonna have, most likely, not a powerful man." "Who would be the williams' knight in shining armor?" "Nobody." "I was reminiscing about my horrible dates, and one horrible date I had was when this guy picked me up in a minivan." "[laughter]" "With rims and tinted windows." "Like, all pimped out." "And I was just like, "Oh, my God." ""I do not want to get in this minivan,"" "and what I should have done in that situation, once I saw the minivan, I just should have twisted my ankle." "[laughter]" "Hey." "SERENA:" "Right now I am married to me." "I am very selfish." "I am getting really set in my ways." "You know, it's really sad, 'cause there's a few great guys out there that, you know, are great, great guys." "I mean, wonderful people." "But at the end of the day, it's just like," "I really need to talk to that man in the mirror, 'cause they a little crazy sometimes." " Are you black?" " Nah." "I only date black guys." "I have to say you don't." "Okay, so" "BAJIN :" "Uh, Brett?" "Okay, and, and?" "I just point, Iike, here." "How far is this place, the gym?" "You know" "Dan?" "One white guy." "I've dated one white guy." "I Iove black guys." "That's already two." "I know another one who lives in malibu." "Look, I don't mind white guys." "I just prefer black guys." "BAJIN :" "Uh. [moans]" "Mikey." " Hi, Big Daddy." " Mikey." "Go make money." "[both giggling] I'm really, really turning red right now." "ORACENE:" "Sascha, you're gonna have a hernia." "Be careful." " [Serena laughs]" " You'II get a hernia." "SERENA:" "Oh, my God !" "Ew!" "I would never date Sasch." "Oh, my God." "I'm gonna throw up." "Oh." "Give me a minute." "[laughs] Ew." "[gasps]" "Oh, no." "Sasch?" "Ugh." "Yuck." "Yuck." "Yuck." "Yuck." "And I hope he doesn't take that the wrong way, but yuck." "I'd Iike for one day that I couId think about getting married." "You know, my ideal guy has a body." "He plays Xbox with me." "Can't be having kids and doing that." "I want to sleep all day." "I don't want to do activities with the kids." "[laughs]" "She started saying, "I'II get married when I'm 45, 50 years old." ""That's when I'II be ready,"" "you know, so, you know, I-- That's her new thing." "She was like, "I just have to" ""'cause I don't want anyone telling me what I can and can't do." ""I don't want anyone telling me how to spend my money." ""I don't want--I don't want anyone doing that."" "Crowd goes wild." "WOMAN :" "Can you talk about being a Jehovah's Witness?" "What does it mean to you?" "I grew up in the Kingdom halls as a young person, so I think that's just shaped everything in my life." "My dad always said, "always put God first, even above family."" "WOMAN ON P.A.:" "To my right, you all know" "I have Venus and Serena williams." "Isha:" "We're very clear on the role of the female in a marriage situation." "Just based on what we believe, a wife is supposed to be submissive." "So do you Iike tennis a Iot?" " I Iike it a Iot." " l can tell." "ISHA:" "And to have a career where you've pretty much done things your way, changed the whole function of a sport, and then come home and have your husband say, you know, "I didn't like this dinner,"" "I mean, that--l mean, you got to understand that might be a tad bit difficult." "You're really good." "How old are you?" "GIRL:" "eleven." "SERENA:" "I thought I would do better at Wimbledon, but I had just recovered from all this stuff, all this" "You know, my lung probIems-- that I had gone through." "After that, me and Sascha, we just went at it every day, and we were totally dedicated." "Oh, this rain won't last long." "It'II be clear." "I'II have my lunch." "assistant:" "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "ORACENE:" "Whoa." "Don't do that." "d This could be your last dance d d So get your back up off the wall d d Lose your mind tonight d d Let go d d On the floor d d Let it go d" "[plane engines whooshing]" "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "The talk is the williams being favorites here, and they can win, even though they haven't played hardly any matches." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR 2 :" "There's a Iot of talk about the woman who's seeded 28th this year, which is not a place she's used to being." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "She had a pretty serious illness, and she was dealing with a possibly career-threatening situation." "MALE COMMENTATOR 2:" "Life-threatening, almost." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "And life-threatening." "She is now playing with this renewed passion, and I think people would be shocked if anybody but Serena's holding the champion's trophy." " Go, Venus!" " Go, Venus!" " Serena!" " Serena!" "Serena!" " Serena!" " Serena!" "I think for every American, the U.S. Open is something special, a tournament in their own country, and especially this big, you know?" "I mean, it's a home Grand slam, you know?" "And it's just a different atmosphere." "It's like a ballgame." "It's way more loud than any other place, and I think, actually, Serena likes that." "It's just more energy at the whole stadium." "[cheers and applause]" "TRAINER:" "Up." "BAJIN :" "Good, now push the booty up." "Squeeze those thighs." "d She feeling bulletproof d" "SERENA:" "well, I always try different things." "I always like to try different workouts." "I started a little bit of pole dancing, 'cause it is an incredible workout." "WOMAN :" "I wanted you to talk more about your size and body image." "well, first of all, I don't do any-- I don't even lift weights, 'cause I think my arms are already too built, so I don't use my upper body." "Even--my muscles are just for show." "I actually never use 'em." "I don't know why they're still here, 'cause I never lift weights." "d She feelin' bulletproof d" "I always try not to be pumped up." "My reasoning for being fit, it's always to lose weight and to be slimmer and to be sexier and" "Hi, my name is Summer, and I'm working with an event in Palm Beach, the williams invitational." "And you can ask for me, Summer." "My last name is Diaz, D-i-a-z." "Yeah, I definitely have different personas and different attitudes." "Psycho Serena." "You don't want to meet her." "She's always-- She's on the court." "She's at practice, and she's in the match." "And she's awesome, and she's amazing." "She's this great athlete." "There's Summer." "She helps me out a Iot." "Summer has a whole story." "[laughs]" "Summer has a whole story." "SERENA:" "Like, if I have to write long letters or if I have to do, you know, different things, then Summer does it." "She got married." "Now she got divorced." "She moved to england." "[adopts British accent] normally when she talks to people on the phone, she just gets on the phone, and she's like, "hello, I'm Summer." "How are you?"" "SERENA:" "When I'm doing my fashion, you know," "I get into this whole fashion moment and this whole fashion thing, whether I'm on HSN or" "Just the perfect jegging, and they go really, really well with the today's special." "SERENA:" "You know, I'm thinking the designs, or I'm drawing, or, you know, I'm pulling out tears." "And then the other girl that, um..." "The one that's really mean is Megan." "Oh, no." "SERENA:" "She's extremely mischievous." "You don't want to run into Megan." "[laughing]" "There's Taquanda." "Whoo." "Taquanda is rough." "She is not Christian." "[laughs]" "She's from the hood." "She was at the U.S. Open in 2009." "[grunts]" "ENBERG:" "Foot fault, and that gives Kim Clijsters 2 match points." "Serena williams charges after the Iinesperson that made the call." "In that particular match that Taquanda played" "First of all, I wasn't there, but I heard about it, and I ended up getting a Iot of the backlash from it." "Laquanda got loose that day." "Uh-oh." "McENROE:" "It was a brutal call." "I mean, to me--I'm neither gonna disagree with her about that." "It was terrible." "I was there." "I was watching." "I couldn't believe that call was made then." "But play it back in your documentary, and I think you'II-- might agree with me." "BODO:" "The foot fault in tennis is one of those very, very tricky things." "fundamentally, your foot cannot cross the line or go into the court until after you've hit the ball." "MARY CARlLLO:" "And now Serena's not done." "She goes back a second time." "McENROE:" "When I saw her lose it that bad," "I remember the first thing I thought was, Iike," ""Did I ever do that, you know, get to that level?"" "and I think she topped me that one time." "[crowd booing]" "FEMALE REPORTER:" "If you were a tennis player, who would you want to be like?" "Um, McEnroe." " Yeah?" " Yes." "Do you think you'd ever be like McEnroe on the court when he gets upset?" "Huh?" "Maybe." "McENROE:" "You know, in other sports, we're out there, and they're screaming obscenities, and people think it's great." "You know, if a baseball manager's yelling, cursing, you can't hear it." "But if a tennis player does it, you can, because the mics are so close and they're so loud." "SERENA:" "I didn't say I would kill you?" "Are you serious?" "We could do a dissertation on why she's so polarizing." "I mean, there are obviously themes of class and sex and race that are just below the surface." "KING:" "You see Roddick." "You've seen McEnroe." "You've seen Connors." "KING:" "You see all those players go absolutely ape, and people move on with them." "They don't want to seem to move on with Serena." "They think it's kind of funny sometimes with the guys." "They never think it's funny with women." "People forget, the average good tennis player you watch for four years, you could be on your best behavior for four years." "Twelve years, you're gonna scream at somebody." "You're gonna knock somebody upside the head." "You're might call somebody a bitch in twelve years." "CLINTON :" "When I see a great athlete do something that seems seIf-destructive," "I always think, "We should cut 'em a little slack."" "I didn't pay much attention to it." "I still like her." "MALE REPORTER:" "Serena, do you think the Iineswoman deserves an apology?" "An apology for..." " From you." " From me?" "For, you know, the yelling and what you said?" "Oh, well, how many people yell at IinespeopIe, so" "Really wanted to apologize sincerely, 'cause I am a very prideful person, and I'm a very emotional person." "I'm a very intense person, and I think it all showed." "I think the whole point of learning from your mistakes is not to do the same thing, and so I want to get another bad line call so I can get some more practice and see how we do then," "'cause then that would be awesome." "MALE REPORTER:" "Serena, what do you remember most from the way your last U.S. Open ended?" "SERENA:" "Um, I don't know." "I don't think about it." "Are you still thinking about it?" "Oh, my God, that was, Iike, two years ago." "This is, Iike, two years later." "It was two years ago, and last year, I didn't play, and if anything, I thought, "Wow, I'm back."" "You know, I haven't played in a Iong time." "I'm telling you, out of sight, out of mind for me." "You guys should try it." "Your spring" "So what will the line be?" "This dress, you see the front is very simple, and this has, Iike, a square neckline, so it's very flattering." "Yeah, so what we did, it was this right here." "well, I think their style is very independent and quite rebellious, and they're not interested in looking like anybody else, nor do they really care what anybody else thinks." "The biggest challenge for me when I play is deciding what color I'm going to wear." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Now, I'm no aficionado, Tracy, you'II be relieved to hear, but I'm told that that's a new range of nail polish, and the purple is called "Grape, Set, and Match."" "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Get a look at her dress." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR 2:" "apparently called the wonderland dress, inspired by Alice In Wonderland." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR 3:" "What was worse, some say, the fIesh-coIored shorts she wore underneath, and, yes, she is wearing shorts." "WlNTOUR:" "Tennis was very conservative, and I think it's thanks to players like Andre Agassi and Venus and Serena that the whole look of tennis has totally changed." "You know, it's easy to wear a pretty dress, and they're not interested in that, and that's part of who they are and why people pay attention." "Attention has to be paid to them." "VENUS:" "I'm going to the doctor saying," ""l don't feel like I'm getting enough air,"" "or, "I just don't have the stamina to last."" "You know, I train the same amount or more than anyone else with half the result." "ASSISTANT:" "Um, well, she's actually gonna have a match probably in two to three hours, but she's saying how she just woke up today and she's feeling really tired." "Is there anything that you recommend?" "VENUS:" "I was diagnosed with Sjogren's this summer." "It's kind of hard to describe." "You know, it's pretty much just, Iike, not having any energy at all and feeling like you're sick, but you don't have a cold or a flu." "ORACENE:" "DOCTOR:" "How are you?" "What's happening?" "Um..." " Okay." " So, um..." "DOCTOR:" "Oh, okay." "NURSE:" "VENUS:" "Well, this summer, I started having more issues, just not feeling good, and my hand started swelling, and I started having joint pain, and I couldn't control my shots." "Like, I had no feel left." "Like, they were going out by feet." "So in a Iot of ways, it's good that that happened, you know, so that way I couId understand what was wrong with me and go on and get treatment." "ORACENE:" "And you have to be patient and..." "let it work." "You can't rush it." "VENUS:" "BRIAN WILLIAMS:" "Back now as promised with more on this surprising announcement by Venus williams, a tennis superstar by any measure, that she is out of the game, at least for now, pulling out of the U.S. Open to tend to her health." "MALE REPORTER:" "Serena, can you give us an update on your sister, what she's doing now since she's withdrawn?" "SERENA:" "She's still in New York, and she said she was gonna hang out for a little bit." "WOMAN :" "Hey, how are you?" "VENUS:" "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "It's a short life as a tennis player." "I mean, they're extraordinary, how long that they've remained on the top of the game, so I think along the way, you really do need to find what else interests you, and if it's fashion" "or acting or working in television." "You're supposed to be my man, Rasheed." "You were supposed to be there for me." "I needed you." "Great, but have that balance." "FEMALE REPORTER:" "Now your sister has announced that she's been diagnosed with this autoimmune disorder." "SERENA:" "She's been struggling for a Iong time, and now she can actually get better." "I know." "I should probably go to the gym and eat, but I'm having a hard time doing the things" "I'm supposed to do nowadays." "SERENA:" "I feel like my serve sucks." "My return, I feel like I'm missing so many shots." "I just..." "I mean, the only thing I'm doing well is, Iike" "Today I don't know." "But I expect so much from myself." "RICHARD:" "When she's practicing, you look at her, and if you didn't know her game, you'd get disgusted." "But she play about 20 times better than she practice." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Serena williams is taking on Victoria Azarenka." "Now, it's a clash everybody was looking forward to." "[both grunting]" "Breathe, Meg." "relax." "ASSISTANT:" "Take it right here, Serena." "Come on." "RICHARD:" "Serena, end this thing." "VENUS:" "You can do it, Serena." "[both grunting]" "[cheers and applause]" "ORACENE:" "I was just hoping she can get through this match." "And see it for herself, you know?" "'Cause if the girl had a little bit more moxie..." "I don't want you to sit here and say I'm the only one that needs improvement." "You need to improve too." "See, I know I need to improve, but I'm just asking you to do better as well." "That's it." "You don't have to sit here and yell at me and be like, you know..." "What?" "I know, but I'm being honest with you too this time and saying that I felt that I played good tennis today out there" "And I say you didn't." "And here I played like shit." "I couldn't be more upset with how I played." "BAJlN :" "I know I'm not gonna convince Serena in that moment to have her saying, "Okay, Sascha, you're right."" "Like, she would never, ever say that." "I told her many times, like, that if she has stress buildup, you know, since I'm a guy, I can take it." "SERENA:" "ASSISTANT:" "Why?" "'Cause he's--He just is." "BAJIN :" "I made a dumb joke." "I made a joke and said that I asked Ana Ivanovic when is she finally gonna hire me, and I wasn't being serious at all." "You know, I mean, Serena should know that I Iove her and that I'm here for her." "SERENA:" "He really hurt my feelings today." "Because he talked about another woman?" "No, because he told her that-- when was she gonna hire him." "Like, I would never go to another guy and say, Iike," ""When are you gonna start hitting with me?"" "Like, common sense would tell you that," ""Your player's going to a Grand slam." ""like, if anything, I should build her up" ""instead of tear her down."" "[plane engine whooshing]" "My stress levels are always way higher during Grand slams." "I don't like anyone around me, and it's annoying." "ASSISTANT:" "SERENA:" "congratulations, baby." "What are you doing now?" "Watching your daughter kick ass." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Yeah, but what else are you doing?" "Watching her kick ass tomorrow." "[laughter]" " congratulations." " Thank you." "Huge win." "It was great." " Hope she wins it all." " Thank you." " congratulations." " Thank you." "The only person can beat Serena here is Serena." "ENBERG:" "We welcome you on this solemn day, ten-year anniversary of 9/1 1 , and the whole world felt the pain and the terror of ten years ago." "Serena williams has already announced she's playing this for the people of the United States in memory of those that were lost on this day." "Serena, six months ago, you were in the hospital with a blood clot." "Now you're in the finals of the U.S. Open." "How emotional has this journey back been for you?" "It's been really emotional and really, really hard." "And everything--I'm just, I feel so blessed and really lucky." "MAN :" "Stand by in three, two, one." "And sending." "MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "Serena Williams!" "[cheers and applause]" "ENBERG:" "Serena williams, who has won this title three times, has not dropped a single set." "[cheers and applause]" "McENROE:" "Remember, she did play late." "She looks Iethargic so far." "CARILLO:" "See, I don't think she looks lethargic." "I think she looks tight." "It's showing up in her serve, which is usually her go-to move." "ENBERG:" "Who is this woman masquerading as the three-time champion?" "First time she's lost a set here in this championship." "Serena Williams dominating her opponents, and here it's Stosur in domination with 1 1 consecutive points." "SERENA:" "Come on !" "McENROE:" "They're gonna have to play a let there." "ENBERG:" "She shouted in the middle of that shot." "The ball had not landed when she was saying, "Come on."" "McENROE:" "She should play a let." "CARILLO:" "That's bad form." "That is bad form." "McENROE:" "I don't know if it's her point." "SERENA:" "Come on, relax, Meg." "Shake it off." "Shake it off." "McENROE:" "To give Stosur the point was infuriating, and I think it went too far." "Because of the call, actually, the crowd all turned in Serena's favor." "[cheers and applause]" "ENBERG:" "The crowd now rooting strongly in behalf of Serena williams." "PATRICK McENROE:" "She makes it personal with this umpire, who, in my opinion, just did her job and did it appropriately." "And what she said on the changeover, in my mind, was just totally unprofessional and really cIassIess, to be honest." "I mean, I think it was stupid, but I wouldn't say it was classless." "people say 1 ,000 times worse, and they think it's cute." "And I say, "You're ugly on the inside,"" "which is the most geekish thing anyone could possibly say." "If I would have said that in high school," "I would have got beaten up." "So I almost wanted to beat up myself when I heard that." "I was like, "Oh, my God, what a--" [laughs]" ""What a nerd." "honestly, couldn't I have said something better?"" "Ugh." "Loser." "[grunts] [cheers and applause]" "ENBERG:" "Oh, my." "A fantastic upset." "The australian Samantha Stosur, in straight sets, is the champion of the United States Open." "BAJIN :" "It's hard." "I mean, I got to bed at 2:30 A.M., so she went to bed late." "She went around the same time." "Coming out today, morning again." "It's not easy." "I think maybe all of these little aspects put together definitely slowed her down on the court a little bit today." "Are you with me?" "SERENA:" "She was cracking 'em today." "She definitely hit hard and just went for-- went for broke, and I just probably should have been lighter on my toes and moving a little faster." "Everyone lives to be, you know, in the final at Wimbledon or the final at the U.S. Open." "Whatever happens in that moment, you live for 'em, and we breathe for them, and, you know, hopefully I'll be back next year." "McENROE:" "Do you have two seconds I can speak to you alone," " just the two of us?" " Sure." "McENROE:" "Somewhere--We can just jump in here for one second." "WOMAN :" "Uh, principal's office." "SERENA:" "Uh-oh, we're going to the bathroom." "[woman laughs]" "McENROE:" "SERENA:" "McENROE:" "SERENA:" "TALESE:" "The tragedy for every athlete is age, the inevitability of age and the inevitability of not being able to pursue your dream because your body won't follow you any longer." "KING:" "Your body tells you a Iot." "Like, maybe you're half a step slower or a step slower." "Maybe you notice that you are in a different place emotionally." "At some point, the star will fade, and there'll be some other great tennis player." "Serena and I decided that we're not gonna have to have a traditional career, so we're gonna keep playing and playing." "Even when we're too terrible for singles, we're still gonna play doubles." "FLEMING:" "Through their injuries, it's kind of woken people up to the reality that there will be a tremendous void when they're gone." "[cheers and applause]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Two championship points... for a 5th WimbIedon and a 1 4th major title." "Game." "[cheers and applause]" "Serena Williams, champion of wimbledon again." "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "She is our greatest champion the Iast 20 years of women's tennis, arguably maybe the greatest woman player that ever lived." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Making her way up the stairs just above us here, the friends box where the sister awaits." "SERENA:" "Thank you guys in the box, Daddy, Mom, Sascha." "Just knowing you're over there, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I Iove you all, and I couId never have done this without you." "[cheers and applause]" "stadium ANNOUNCER:" "So you've got five of these trophies now, so at Ieast it can match the wimbledon trophy cabinet of Venus now." "I've always wanted everything that Venus has had, so I had to copy you again, so sorry." "STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "congratulations on a fifth WimbIedon trophy." "Serena williams!" "[cheers and applause]" "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Oh !" "Oh !" " FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "Whoa!" "[Venus screams] [song begins] [cheers and applause]" "FEMALE COMMENTATOR:" "To me, Venus williams, the most intimidating figure in women's tennis up at net ever." "She could play doubles with her sister for many years." "MALE COMMENTATOR:" "Serena and Venus williams at championship point." "d As it is written, so shall it be d" " [screaming] - [cheers and applause]" "MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:" "And the wimbledon" "Ladies' doubles champions 201 2," "Serena Williams and Venus williams." "[cheers and applause]" "clinton :" "When you get older, you got to win by what you know, by what you've learned, and by the mental toughness you've acquired, so what I hoped would happen for both of them is that they would be able to rehab and come back" "and that all the benefit of all those other tournaments, all the victories and the defeats, would play out in their having a great next chapter in their tennis career." "d A prodigy of the ghetto d d Her destiny d d Was to play in the arena eye d d And reign in the arena d" "d You can see her drive through her parents' eyes d d When balls fly, don't be surprised d d When she comes to the arena d d built for the arena d" "d This is the moment... d" " lsn't that fun?" " I know, it moves so" "It's insane, right?" "d As the phoenix rise, I'm a champion d" "Yo, I'm back in the top ten, you know?" "girl, I saw that." "How can you and Venus keep in the top ten" " and y'aII don't ever play?" " I don't know." "d That I waited all my Iife for d l don't know how we gonna move this." "Oh, Lord have mercy." "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "d With the heart of a warrior d" "Hi, everyone," "welcome to the Second annual Williams Invitational." "We'II make this brief, so that way, we can all get on the court." "d But you can't break me d d I was built for the arena d" "And I Iove you." "You better love me." "Let's go." "Hey." "d Say what you want to d d But you can't break me d d When my 'drenaIine rush in the arena d d The crowd roars in the arena d" "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d d As the phoenix rise d d I'm a champion d d With the heart of a warrior d" "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d d I'm the phoenix rising, champion d d With the heart of a warrior d" "d When I strive d d I can make lightning and thunder go high d" "d They say we all actors playing our part d d So in this game called life d" "d I'ma play it with my heart d d And give it all I got d d Yeah, yeah, yeah d d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d d As the phoenix rise d" "d I'm a champion with the heart of a warrior d d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d d I'm the phoenix rising, champion d d With the heart of a warrior d" "d This is the moment that I waited all my Iife for d d I'm the phoenix rising, champion d d With the heart of Serena d"