15 Facts About Richard Williams (tennis coach)

Richard Williams took tennis lessons from a man known as "Old Whiskey" and decided his future daughters would be tennis professionals after seeing Virginia Ruzici playing on television.

Richard Williams said that he wrote up an 85-page plan and started giving lessons to Venus and Serena when they were four and a half, taking them to practice on public tennis courts.

Richard Williams later added that he felt he took them too early and age six would have been more suitable.

In 1995, Richard Williams withdrew his daughters from a tennis academy and coached them himself.

Richard Williams jumped over the NBC broadcasting booth, catching Chris Evert by surprise and performing a triumphant dance.

Richard Williams has been open about his difficult childhood and experiences with racism and has credited his faith as a source of strength throughout each season of his life.

Richard Williams had nine children, including Venus and Serena.

Johnson and Richard Williams married in 1965 and had five children who were raised alongside Betty's other daughter.

Richard Williams then met ex-stripper Lakeisha Juanita Graham, and they married in 2010.

Richard Williams wants to end the marriage but has not been able to complete the legal procedures.

Richard Williams has a son from a relationship outside his marriages.

Richard Williams authored two books: Black and White: The Way I See It, a memoir published in 2014, and Richard Williams: Tennis and Race in the United States, a study of race and tennis that was published in 2020.

Richard Williams has been the subject of several documentaries and has been featured in various media outlets.

At the time his third wife, Lakeisha Richard Williams, stated that his condition was stable.

In 2022, Richard Williams was reported to have had two strokes.