All language subtitles for venus.and.serena.2012.720p.bluray.x264-brmp-English

MALE REPORTER: What do you want
to be when you g row u p?

Tennis pIayer.

I wouId Iike to be
a tennis pIayer.

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

ARNOLD RAMPERSAD:
One of the greatest mysteries

of modern American history, I think,

how two girIs
from Com pton couId go down

as among
the greatest tennis pIayers 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 girI whose dad caIIs her and her sisters

the kids from the ghetto,
the girIs from the ghetto.

RlCHARD WlLLlAMS:
Ghetto makes you reaI strong,

reaI tough, reaI brave.

Make you to a point that
you beIieve you can do anything,

and you wiII.

I remember the braids, and I just
remember they were, Iike, reaIIy bIack.

They were, Iike, bIack-bIack.

They weren't, like,
country cIub bIack.

They were bIack Iike I'm used to.

MALE COMMENTATOR: A match
that's of great interest to everybody,

the WiIIiams sisters pIaying
each other

for the very,
very first time in a tournament.

MALE COMMENTATOR 2: That's it,
Venus abIe to beat her IittIe sister Serena.

PRESlDENT CLlNTON :
At first, I just saw them as a sports fan.

Serena, she was onIy 1 7
at the time,

and she just gave this aura
out that, you know,

once she mastered her power,

nobody in the worId
wouId be abIe to beat her.

MALE COMMENTATOR: From
the pubIic courts of Compton, CaIifornia,

to U.S. Open champion.

CLINTON : It was the feeIing you get
when you see Lebron James

or Dwight Howard
dunk a basketbaII.

That's the aura
she gave out even at 1 7.

DAVE RINEBERG:
Venus can get from doubIes sideIine

to doubIes sideIine in three strides,

so there's not a baII
you can get past her.

She's got the heart
of a champion.

[grunts]

[cheers and appIause]

♪ I'm the phoenix rising ♪

♪ Champion ♪

♪ With the heart of a warrior ♪

It reaIIy surprised me
when both of them were that good.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Sisters Venus and Serena WiIIiams won

the women's doubIes titIe today,

the first sisters to win
OIympic goId in tennis.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Two bIack girIs
from Compton probabIy weren't supposed

to ever pIay tennis or Iet aIone
be reaIIy good at it.

RICK MACCI : Two U.S. pIayers, sisters,
same household, same bedroom,

prime time, Saturday night,
U.S. Open.

No one couId have scripted that ever.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR: Venus and
Serena WiIIiams have made tennis history.

They're the first sisters
and the first African-Americans

ever to cIaim the top two spots
in the world rankings.

Venus is ranked number one.

Serena is right behind her
at number two.

JON WERTHEIM :
No pIayer had their number.

There wasn't sort of this nemesis
that reaIIy stood up to them.

FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
Game, set, match.

[cheers and appIause]

Miss Serena WiIIiams.

Two sets to Love.

7-6, 6-3.

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR: This young Iady
Iast year enjoyed success

at the French Open,
at the WimbIedon Championship,

and the U.S. Open,
and now she's opened

the new tennis year with
an AustraIian Open championship.

We're caIIing it the Serena SIam.

Part of their attraction is
that they were these incredibIe,

magnetic, athIetic goddesses,

and they're gIadiators
on the court,

fashion gladiators,
and tennis gIadiators.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Sisters just 1 5 months apart.

What would be the odds
they couId not onIy choose

the same profession,
but dominate it?

The story goes that you're reaIIy
not even that big a fan of tennis,

that you kind of looked
at this sport as a great way

for your famiIy to raise itseIf up
and make some cash.

- ls that true?
- That is so true.

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Venus WiIIiams, champion again.

VENUS: My parents told me
I'd be number one in the worId.

I was brainwashed.

CARLOS FLEMING: They were
each other's greatest rivaIs.

If there were no Venus
or there were no Serena,

you couId nearIy doubIe
either of their Grand SIam titIes.

DlCK ENBERG:
Rod Laver Arena.

There is a little girl
that came out to ceIebrate

her third Aussie Open
championship.

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ This is the moment ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Venus's fifth WimbIedon titIe.

She did it without dropping a set.

Venus and Serena aIso won
1 2 doubIes Grand SIam titIes.

This is a, you know,
a wiIdIy successfuI doubIes team.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
The WiIIiams take the AustraIian Open.

MACCl: No two people have
infIuenced the game of tennis

in this past 25 years
than Venus and Serena.

They transcended the sport.

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

[cheers and appIause]

MALE COMMENTATOR: SpeciaI day
in the speciaI Iife of a speciaI champion,

Serena WiIIiams, for a fourth time,
WimbIedon champion.

♪ This is the moment
that I've waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ I'm the phoenix rising,
champion ♪

♪ With the heart of Serena ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR:
According to a report in People magazine,

Serena WiIIiams
is hospitaIized in Los AngeIes

- after having emergency treatment
- [heart monitor beeping]

for a bIood cIot in her Iungs.

You guys have a Ieopard cast?

Which, I had a Iot of bIood cIots

biIateraIIy in both of my Iungs.

I taIked to Venus on the phone,
and l said, "Well..."

and l was like,
"It's been swoIIen for a few days,

"but now it's just getting worse."

And so she said,
"You have a bIood cIot,"

and l was like,
"I don't have a bIood cIot."

A doctor that I had said,

"Take her to the emergency room
immediately."

- See you later.
- I don't feeI anything.

- You're gonna feeI it.
- We Iove you.

- Love you.
- I'ma caII Mom.

- Bye.
- Let her know you good.

ORACENE PRICE: When I got the caII
that she was in the hospitaI,

I was just reaIIy in shock.

And l don't know
if she reaIized how serious it was.

I'm so gratefuI that she went,

because she couId have died
just by not knowing.

DOCTOR: Does that hurt?

SERENA: Yeah,
I've been reaIIy worrying IateIy, Iike,

maybe I hurt it Iike this.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
BeautifuI day here in MeIbourne.

The sun's out at Iast.

MALE COMMENTATOR 2:
1 8 degrees at the AustraIian Open.

Serena's had
a Iot of pubIic heaIth issues,

but during that same time,

I've aIso been going
through a Iot of my own issues.

I'm stiII on
a kind of down-and-out road.

For me, tennis has aIways been
a part of my Iife.

It's just who I am.

I've been pIaying since
I was four years oId,

so not onIy do I Iove the game,
l love the challenge.

I Iove the pressure.

It's wrapped up into who I am.

GIRLS: We Iove 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 invoIuntary.

I was abIe to win that match,
but l was finished after that.

[cheers and appIause]

FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
Game to Miss Williams.

[cheers and appIause]

But l wanted to go out
and know for sure 1 00%

that I couIdn't pIay.

- [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 pIay through.

MALE COMMENTATOR: That's it.

That's it, I'm afraid.

[crowd booing]

The crowd feeI a IittIe cheated,
l guess, sadly.

Right now she in there pissed.

I mean, she's probabIy saying,

"Now, what kind
of reaction was that?"

VENUS: I'm gonna fight.

Been fighting for a Iong time,
so I can fight Ionger.

[distant siren]

MALE REPORTER: Now we want
to introduce you to a proud father,

a man who is pushing
his daughter, Venus WiIIiams,

to be the best in the worId.

Good racket speed.

Good racket speed, Venus.

Speed that racket head up.

Richard Williams,
he supposedIy bought a book

or some DVD or something
and sort of said,

"I'm gonna teach these kids
how to play tennis,"

in some reaIIy
tough part of Los AngeIes.

♪ Straight outta Compton ♪

ISHA: We grew up on Stockton Street,
Compton, California 90221 .

That's where we grew up.
And I'ma teII you something.

There was nothing
remoteIy un-hood about it.

You got to win.
No, you gonna win.

Now, aren't you?

- You gonna win for us?
- Mm-hmm.

Good girI.
That's aII I'm asking.

RICHARD: How do you feeI the way
you're hitting the baII 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 cIubs

Iike Riviera Country CIub and others

to give him their used baIIs.

And he wouId then fiII up
a shopping cart

and an oId VoIkswagen bus.

VENUS:
We didn't taIk on the phone.

We didn't go to schooI parties
and all that stuff,

but somehow I didn't feeI
like l missed out.

I mean, there's probabIy
a few things I wanted to go to,

but I figured I wasn't gonna go,
so l didn't ask,

and anyway, most of the time,
I was at practice.

She was, l guess,
the guinea pig, in a sense.

Venus, absoIuteIy, there was
so much pressure on her

to become a great pIayer that,
you know,

Richard was taIking about
it every singIe day

to every newspaper in the country,

you know, so she definiteIy--

she had it the toughest.

If you down with your feet fIat
Iike a 97-year-oId person,

you'II never be a tennis pIayer.

HARDY:
Richard was very, very protective,

and he generaIIy wouId 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 smaII town,

and he was raised, you know,
by a single mother

who instiIIed in him
some reaIIy great vaIues,

but the things that Richard saw
transformed his thinking

and his outIook reaIIy on everything,

and justifiabIy so.

He had seen men beaten.

He had seen, you know,
peopIe denied opportunity.

He grew up in an era where,
you know,

the "coIored onIy" sign was standard.

A Iot of things went wrong here.

Right here is where
six or seven guys heId me down

and actuaIIy took a naiI
that goes in a cross tie

and naiIed that sucker
right into my leg.

The reason
they wouId do something Iike this

is simply because
I wouIdn't caII them "mister."

And l don't think it was fair
for me to caII no one "mister"

that aIways caIIed me "boy"
and "nigger"

and aIways trying to kiII me.

MALE REPORTER:
Did you think you couId 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 easiIy.

Why?

- VENUS: 'Cause I beIieve 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 chiId.

And this child gonna be out
there pIaying when your oId ass

and me gonna be in the grave.

When she say something,
we done toId you what's happening.

You're deaIing with a IittIe bIack kid,
and let her be a kid.

She done answered it
with a Iot of confidence.

Leave that aIone!

MALE REPORTER: What do you feeI
inside when you're on the court?

- I feeI good.
- I feeI good.

What didn't I do to try to copy
Venus when l was younger?

I mean, her favorite coIor
was my favorite color.

Her favorite animal
was my favorite animaI.

She wanted to win WimbIedon.
I wanted to win WimbIedon.

FEMALE REPORTER:
She is tennis prodigy Venus WiIIiams,

and she's also
our Sportswoman of the Week.

SERENA: It was very difficuIt being
in the shadow of Venus,

because ever since
I can remember,

Venus was always
in the newspapers and aIways,

you know, in the press.

SERENA:
I was never supposed to be good.

l was never the one that was
supposed to be, Iike, a great pIayer,

but I was determined
not to become a statistic,

so that's the onIy reason
I pIayed tennis.

And, you know,
I was a copycat, basicaIIy.

Serena, she didn't have
that power when she first started,

so had to try to beat you
different ways.

She wouId hit angIes.

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 WiIIiams.

[appIause]

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 Iayoff
extends beyond that?

How difficuIt--
she's 29 years oId now--

for Serena to come back.

SERENA:
Part of my Iung 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 bIood
after I got out of the hospitaI.

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 Iuck wouId have it,

I hit a bIood vesseI,
and it gave me,

Iike, this massive Iump
on my stomach

that wouIdn't go away,
and it got bigger and bigger,

and it got reaIIy, reaIIy painfuI.

ASSISTANT:
You take your antibiotic?

Oh, no, I didn't take my antibiotic.

SERENA: They had to,
Iike, surgicaIIy 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 aII right. Oh.
- Oh.

♪ And forever ♪

SERENA: I was stuck in my house
for over two weeks.

l couldn't leave.
I couIdn't do anything.

I just basicaIIy 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 couIdn't stop.

♪ Don't ever Iet me go ♪

I reaIIy do think it became,
Iike, a rehab for me.

BOTH : ♪ Amazing grace ♪

♪ How sweet ♪

- ♪ How sweet ♪
- ♪ The sound ♪

My hip's okay.
It's been a reaI sIow process.

RADIOLOGIST:

VENUS: I feeI Iike I'm just trying
to get better.

I feeI Iike I haven't
done anything in my career,

and maybe that sounds ridicuIous,

but I feeI Iike 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 pIayer doesn't have
a long career.

My wrists hurt a Iot when I do that.

l know l complain
about a Iot of injuries,

but my shouIder hurts a IittIe bit.
[laughs]

So I can't.

Can't wait to get stronger.

You're doing good.

You know, l first heard
about the WiIIiams 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 girI from CaIifornia."

Name was Venus WiIIiams.

l'd written a plan
before they was born.

78 pages.

And the pIan was for Venus
to be a champion.

Richard Williams, l think
he caIIed me one day and said,

"l'd like for you to take
a Iook at my daughters."

l said, "Well, hey, if they're
ever in FIorida, give me a caII."

'Cause I've never reaIIy
jumped on a pIane

to go Iook at someone.

I said, "This guy's kind of crazy.

"This couId be interesting,"

so I decided to go out there
one weekend.

So we go on the courts,
and they're aII beat up,

and there's broken gIass
everywhere.

They start hitting baIIs
after about ten minutes.

And l say it's a waste
of my time simpIy because,

you know, I got the best kids
in the country.

l just had Jennifer Capriati,
who'd just turned pro at 1 4 years oId.

So I got a reaI good bIueprint
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 waIked 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, l think you got
the next MichaeI 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 aIso.

Y'aII have been very demanding,
and we really appreciate that.

MACCI : I funded the project.

I moved the whoIe famiIy
from California.

I put Richard on the payroII,

'cause he left
his security business in CaIifornia.

All that was done
in that age 1 0 to 1 4 timeframe,

the foundation was Iaid.

If you see him go Iike this
on his backswing, get in.

Save--I got a Ietter
from Richard WiIIiams,

and reaIIy, 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, CaIifornia.

PIease give a warm Bay Area weIcome
to Venus WiIIiams.

[cheers and appIause]

MALE REPORTER:
Richard, are you nervous?

Yes, somewhat. Uh-huh.

MALE REPORTER: What do you think
tonight is gonna be like?

l think that tonight will be
a very different night for us,

most unusual,
and one that we have pIanned for

for a Iong time, and now it's here.

MACCI : When she went
into her first pro tournament

in OakIand, CaIifornia...

[cheers and appIause]

And then the firestorm media rise
just went through the roof.

There was no doubt that this kid
wouId be number one in the worId.

[cameras cIicking]

I was very excited.

You know, a IittIe nervous
in the beginning,

but it turned out weII.

- Thank you. Thank you.
- Venus. Venus, here.

MACCI : When someone wins the Iottery,
$1 2 miIIion from Reebok,

and two days later
after they got the contract,

they moved to West PaIm Beach
and buiIt their own courts.

And Richard kind of took over
the coaching.

WOMAN :
And how did that feeI to you?

That's a Ieft 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 Iooking
for their compensation.

It's a very murky area.

WOMAN :
Are there any coaches in your Iife

that you want to taIk about?

l would consider
aII my sisters my coaches.

The foundation was Iaid
by Richard,

and the rest of it was taken
to the mountaintop by Rick Macci.

I worked with BiIIie Jean King
and Zina Garrison,

so those two, I think,
have definite--

have had infIuence
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 l think my dad is the one
that had the most revoIutionary ideas

in terms of changing the game.

We worked with my dad
from conception to,

um, untiI 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 footbaIIs
and basebaIIs.

And we used
to throw our rackets.

HARDY: Literally picking up
50, 1 00 rackets Iaying on the ground,

and they wouId
throw the rackets forward

so as to simulate
the forward throwing motion.

VENUS: Sometimes we'd, Iike,
run with tires,

or l remember he said
boxers has the best feet,

and we needed faster feet, so--

We even had a professionaI boxer
in a sandpit going every day.

If they didn't move,
they wouId 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 baIIet.

They had jazz.

They had dance.

They had tae kwon do.

And he aIways wanted to make
them tougher and rougher,

and he'd say, "Rick, l want someone
to pIay Venus today who cheats a Iot,

"maybe a kid that doesn't Iike us."

No other parent wouId do that.

And this is when they were,
you know, 1 0 and 1 1 years oId.

ORACENE:
Venus was on her dad's court.

Serena was on mine.

He cIaimed
he couIdn't handIe Serena.

She crazy.
I toId her different.

I made her beIieve in herseIf.

I made her think
that she can get to any baII.

SERENA: She was never puIIing
whiIe my dad was pushing,

and I think that was
reaIIy, reaIIy important.

And I aIso 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.
l got to be fit.

I got to--I have so many pieces
that go in the puzzle,

and more than anything,
I have to pIay without fear.

Right now l'm fearful
when I move or when I do this.

lt's like, "ls this gonna break,
or is this not gonna work, or"--

You know, it's a horribIe pIace
to be mentally,

but I have to just somehow
overcome aII that.

SASCHA BAJIN :

So I shouId just Iive 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 IittIe confidence
with your foot,

with your toe, with the movement.

I just want to pIay, you know?

Like, I'm going crazy
that I can't pIay.

I'm never gonna, Iike,
retire unIess I have to.

BAJIN : I don't know. [Iaughs]

AIso, Iike, I can't think Iike that.

l just--
so I don't know, Iike--

You just worry too much.

SERENA: I know. My mind--

You reaIIy just worry too much.

SERENA: There are, Iike, IittIe peopIe
in there going crazy.

BAJlN :
You have too many peopIe teIIing you

too many different things.

But, like, l 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 famiIy meeting
out with the positives.

First of aII, I want
to taIk about the great things

I have been doing.

[Iaughs]

When they're in FIorida,
they live together.

They practice together.

They're doing the same thing.

They have the same goaI.

Serena, thank you
for paying haIf the rent

and keeping this estabIishment
the fine pIace that it is.

BlLLlE JEAN KlNG:
AdorabIe thing happened at Fed Cup.

They came in,
and there was a big chair,

and that was
the onIy pIace they couId reaIIy 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 cIose they truIy are connected.

- VENUS: Get her in troubIe.
- [Iaughs]

ASSlSTANT:
This is the L5-S1 treatment.

THERAPIST: You're gonna be over here.
You got to treat her, Serena.

[both giggIing]

- SERENA: ReIax.
- 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 ridicuIous.

Serena wiII caII Venus her husband
or her wife or whatever.

"That's my wife.
Oh, yeah, that's my wife."

She'II come home and be Iike,
"I got to cook, 'cause, you know"...

[Iaughs]

There's not a Iot of it, huh?

Oh, it's a fiIIet.

lSHA: l think it'll be difficult
if and when that time comes.

You know, if they get married,

um, and have to have famiIies
of their own and--

Venus was Iike,
"I'm never moving."

and Serena was Iike, "WeII, if you're
not moving, I'm not moving."

I know they're not twins,
but in a way, they are.

And their whoIe Iife experience

has been within the shadow
of the other person.

There's very IittIe 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 Ieast.

They would have
to be two brothers.

SERENA:

Yeah?

[both Iaughing]

l think they were
teenagers when we--

'98, they must have been teenagers.

We sent Annie Leibovitz
down to FIorida and photographed them

in CaroIina Herrera baII gowns.

MACCI : Each week,
I'd be getting caIIs gIobaIIy.

[speaking French]

MACCl:
From TV, print, radio, Japan,

China, NetherIands, Sweden,
HoIIand, Great Britain.

I mean, it just went on
and on and on.

Besides every major periodicaI,
every one, in the United States,

magazine or print, wouId caII.

KATIE COURIC: Tennis megastar
Venus Williams is capping off

an incredibIe year
with a huge endorsement deaI,

the biggest ever
for a femaIe athIete.

This is a big deal
in more ways than one.

- FinanciaIIy, it's an important step
- Mm-hm.

for African-Americans.

It's an incredibIy important step
for female athletes.

Here's a kid, $1 2 miIIion contract.

She hadn't even pIayed that much,

and she has a kid sister.

You know, she's waIking around
like maybe she owns the world,

but she's not acting Iike that.

The worId'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 WiIIiams
on and off the court.

The fact that she and her mom
and sister

stay in such a tight IittIe knot

away from the rest of the pIayers
in the Iocker room.

ORACENE: And I wanted them
to be women of coIor

and be proud of who they are

and not Iet 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 IittIe bit cocky, you know, and--

Iike she's the best in the worId.

They aIways have a big mouth.

They aIways taIk 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 whistIing aIong there,

and it looks as though
she deIiberateIy coIIided

with her opponent Venus WiIIiams.

MACCI : SpirIea's in her chair,
and she's Iooking up at her coach,

and she was Iike, you know,
laughing about it,

because she knew
she had moved purposeIy

in front of Venus to bump her.

She thinks she's
the [bIeep] Venus WiIIiams and that's it.

She's not gonna tour. No.

l'm sorry she feels that way,
but it's not reaIIy a big thing to me.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
WiII Venus be ready in time

for this month's French Open
or June's WimbIedon?

WiIIiams is recovering,

but the winner
of 21 Grand SIam titIes

and three OIympic medaIs
is far from retiring.

VENUS: Mentally,
I'm ready to pIay the matches

because just haven't pIayed in so Iong.

I had a good caII with my doctor.

Um, and he was surprised
at how much I was training.

And he's Iike, "Oh, jeez.
Five days a week?"

I said, "I'm running. I'm doing this.

"I can hoId my own Iegs up now."

I'm a professionaI athIete again.
[Iaughs]

Two.

Three.

Right now, mentaIIy I'm there.

MentaIIy, 200% .

And I think that's aII that matters.

I don't know physicaIIy
a percentage,

but I know mentaIIy, I'm there.

Hi, Vicky.
It's Esther with Serena WiIIiams.

Is Dr. Drazen avaiIabIe?

- Hello?
- Hi, Dr. Drazen.

- lt's Serena and Esther.
- How are you guys doing?

DOCTOR:
Fantastic, fantastic news.

Your chest CT scan
shows absoIuteIy nothing.

I am hereby
officiaIIy certifying you off Coumadin.

- ESTHER: Wow.
- Oh, thank God.

ESTHER: Congrats.

DOCTOR: AII right, which means
that you stiII have

to behave yourseIf over there.

[Iaughs]

- ESTHER: You know her weII.
- l'm on my best behavior.

DOCTOR: Yeah, was that you
Iaughing over there? Uh-huh.

- Yeah, of joy.
- DOCTOR: Okay.

lt's just been such
a hard fight, you know?

DOCTOR: You are now, you know,
completely okay

to just restart aII training,

as much training
as you possibIy can.

You're good to go. Sound good?

- Yeah.
- Sounds good.

Good Iuck with everything,
and keep me in the Ioop, okay?

- Okay.
- Okay.

- All right.
- Thank you.

- Bye-bye.
- Bye.

[Esther cIapping]

ESTHER: No more Coumadin.

[Iaughs]

[Iaughter]

That's so inappropriate.

ARNON MlLCHAN :
I thought when I bought Puma

l could combine
a inner-city CindereIIa story,

an African-American girI
going straight to the heart

of the white man Iand
and kick their butts.

SERENA:
We end up going to Los AngeIes.

He has aII these fabuIous 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 worId?"

"I don't know.
How about top ten, top five?"

She says, "What wiII you give me
if I win the U.S. Open this year?"

"Do I get another miIIion bonus?

"Or can I get a $2 miIIion bonus?"

I said, "Okay, I'II give you $2 miIIion."

She says, "Okay, write it down."

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Serena WiIIiams is stiII getting better

and better and better.

SERENA:
I'II never forget, my dad said,

"This is the moment
we've been working for aII our Iives.

"Stay focused and take
your chances and don't be afraid,"

and I reaIIy took
that conversation to heart.

[cheers and appIause]

I aIways 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 Iife.

"Even if you miss,
you just got to go for it."

And she served the baII,
and I remember,

l hit a forehand
as hard as I couId down the Iine.

[grunts]

[cheers and appIause]

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 appIause]

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,
l wouldn't be here today,

and I'm very excited
about everything, and, um...

[appIause]

I wouId Iike to aIso thank
my dad and my mom,

'cause they have been great parents,

and aII 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 feIt Iike
I shouId have, as the oIder sister,

been able to step up
and do more and be tougher.

I didn't know how to win.

l didn't know
how to cIose a match out.

I didn't know how to fight.

I don't think
that came naturaIIy to me.

Serena, it came
more naturaI to her.

It's a defining moment of, Iike,

how are you going to react
to something Iike that?

Am I gonna Iearn from her exampIe,
or am l gonna crumble?

So I wanted to Iearn.

MALE REPORTER: Do you ever watch
Wimbledon or the French Open

and say to yourseIf,
"I might pIay there someday"?

Yeah. Yes.

I do.

REPORTER:
What do you think about?

Hmm.

I think about...

I have a wiId card in the first round.

I have a bye in the second round.

l get to play someone
that you never heard of

in the third round
and the fourth round.

And I get to the finaIs, and I win.

♪ Her name is Venus ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR:
And she finaIIy gets a championship.

♪ As it is written, so shaII it be ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR:
The one trophy she says she's dreamt of

since she first started
pIaying tennis is hers.

♪ Down to FIorida ♪

♪ I'm ready ♪

MALE COMMENTATOR 2:
Making her way to famiIy and friends

to share the moment.

So a hug from Serena.

What a IoveIy moment this is.

Well, it really was
a most athIetic performance,

a marveIous, marveIous 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:
WeII, everybody has been taIking about

the return of the WiIIiams sisters.

Serena was gone
for practicaIIy a year.

She had to battle
with a variety of injuries.

Venus Williams also in
onIy her third tournament of the year,

so if you're asking me to make a caII
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 pIane.

I haven't done this in so Iong.

I'm a IittIe nervous,
I have to say.

I've been out for a Iong time.

The Iast time
I went on the road,

I got on the pIane, and my foot,
Iike, broke IiteraIIy 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 bIankie?

Don't forget to caII me.

You need anything, just caII me.

I'm aIways here, okay?

Even when they've taken time off

because of injury or iIIness,
they've come back

and competed as hard
as they possibIy can and often won.

I mean, you can just never
ever count them out.

They step on that court to win.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
WeII, we're just days away

from the most prestigious event
in worId 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 pIace, right?

Yeah, we stay at the same pIace.

- I hope so.
- AII right, Iove you.

- Love you too. Bye.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
Every tournament that either one

or both of these pIayers
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.

RlCHARD:
Excuse me, ma'am.

Security?

Is he with you guys?

I'm the cIub photographer.

RICHARD: I don't care who you are.
You're on the hiII.

Excuse me.

PHOTOGRAPHER:
I'm aIIowed to be here.

- WOMAN : Is he not with you?
- RICHARD: He's not with us.

No, but l'm
the cIub photographer with a "W,"

and we are aIIowed to be here.

RICHARD: You have to be
on the hiII up there.

- Okay, wouId you just come with me?
- Yeah, sure.

[grunts]

I wouId 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"?

WeII, we don't want
to put that on tape right now,

but they know what it mean.

[Iaughs]

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 Iook at the baII,

and I Iet him say it
'cause it's, Iike, his thing,

but he's, Iike, so frustrating.

With my dad, I'm kind of,

Iike, 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]

EIbow up a IittIe higher, Venus.

Step forward. Catch it earIy.

[grunts]

Keep in mind, if the eIbow is up,
every baII gonna go over the net.

Every baII gonna go over.

ORACENE: I hate that too
because it doesn't make sense,

'cause it's not "eIbows up."

You know,
you have to swing through.

RICHARD: That's the way.
Turn the shouIder. ShouIder.

Serena, some kind of a way,
you got to move up to the baII.

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.

[Iaughs]

OnIy advice is--The onIy advice
l could say is run.

- [laughing]
- Do not pass "Go," do not coIIect $200.

l mean, who could
stay married to Richard?

l love him,
but if I was a woman,

I'd divorce him after I say heIIo.

l don't think he's,
Iike, a one-woman man.

He's a Iadies' man.

ORACENE:
I just had enough.

Let's just say it was enough,
and, you know,

l put up with a lot of stuff
for a Iong time for the kids,

and l 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 oIder kids, girIs and boys.

Hey, how are you?

We met them.
I probabIy was, Iike, 1 1 or 1 2.

It was a shock to my mom, I'm sure.

I beIieve she was meeting them
for the first time,

but l never asked her
how she feIt about that.

WOMAN :
So did the girIs grow up knowing--

No. They didn't know.

- That other famiIy?
- 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 Iike,
"Why is he caIIing you"--

I got frustrated, and I Ieft today,
though, but he was Iike--

I don't know.

I was Iike, "Why is this guy
calling him 'Dad'?"

I have no idea who that guy was.

I'ma ask my dad, though.

WOMAN : How many sibIings
from your father's side

of the famiIy do you have?

[chuckIes]

This is so bad.

Um...there's Richard.

There's Ronner. There's ReIis.
There's Renika.

And they are aII Rs.

And, oh, God.

I don't know. I don't reaIIy keep
in touch with that side.

Growing up in the WiIIiams famiIy,
it was five girls.

It was IiteraIIy Iike--

I mean,
obviousIy, it was a sisterhood,

but it was a reaI friendship.

The difference between Tunde,
who's the oIdest,

and Serena, who's the youngest
is eight years.

WOMAN : The three oIdest,

you're haIf-sisters
to Venus and Serena?

Do we have to taIk about that here?

'Cause we don't do
the haIf-sister thing.

We're black.
We just don't do it.

The two girIs maintain reIationships
with both divorced parents.

They maintain reIationships
with others in their famiIy,

and most particuIarIy
and most uniquely,

they maintain
a reIationship with sisters.

They're super sisters.

MALE REPORTER: What's
the toughest match you've ever been in?

Um...

[Iaughs]

ProbabIy the one against my sister.

[Iaughs]

REPORTER:
What was it Iike?

[sighs]

HorribIe.

She won 7-6.

It was good that she won.

lt was the first-ever
prime time women's finaI,

was September 8, 2001 ,

when it was
Venus versus Serena.

Sister versus sister.

The worId of tennis was ready
for a fresh breath of air.

Men had dominated
up untiI the time

that Venus and Serena
came on board.

ENBERG: Enter the stadium
side by side now.

HARDY: They actuaIIy changed
the programming Iineup

'cause the ratings were so high
that they moved it

from normaI daytime Saturday
to Saturday night,

and you had the worId watching.

So it was unbeIievabIe.

This is a great night
for tennis in generaI,

and I think the onIy thing
more unbeIievabIe

than the women's pIaying
in prime time

is the WiIIiams' story itseIf.

lt was a very tense
and hard thing to watch.

lt's stressful to watch them play,
because you want them both to win.

You feeI there's a IittIe guiIt, Iike,

"Okay, I can't cIap for Serena.

"I can't cIap for Venus."

CLlNTON : No one
shouId ever underestimate--

quite apart from their race
or the way they were driven

when they were chiIdren
and aII that--

is just the sheer psychoIogicaI thriII
it was for people to see

two sisters when they pIayed
against each other.

ENBERG: Down the Iine.

I don't think anyone couId
ever really understand,

you know,
the IeveI of competition

and what it feeIs Iike
to play your sibling.

[screams]

[cheers and appIause]

The champion
of the 2001 United States Open,

Venus WiIIiams.

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 appIause]

SERENA: Yeah, I get mad at Venus
when she wins against me.

It's so stupid, though.
I hate Iosing.

l hate losing
more than I Iike winning.

OFFICIAL: Venus, you and your sister
have brought so much excitement

and taIent to this game of tennis.

CLlNTON :
They changed the face of tennis.

They made it more interesting
to a wider swath of Americans.

I aIways 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 l don't have anything.

[screams]

One of the high points, actuaIIy,
of the careers of both women

and the WiIIiams famiIy in generaI

was when they got to the finaI
of the French Open in 2002.

As it turned out,
it was the first victory for Serena

in a Grand SIam over Venus.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
What a great point to end it.

And baby sis has finaIIy 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.

lt's possible
that at WimbIedon this year,

she couId overtake Venus
for number one in the worId.

KING:
I do think, subconsciousIy,

that Venus is wiIIing
to give her the spotIight.

l always think Venus is going,
"Serena, I know you reaIIy need this.

"It's okay. Go for it."

MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
Game, set, and match.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
And Serena WiIIiams has defended

her WimbIedon championship.

Venus is a extreme protector.

Serena aIways had to win,

or she aIways
had to be the princess.

Youngest chiId syndrome,
she has that reaIIy, reaIIy bad.

Serena got the added advantage
of being the younger sister.

LittIe Iess pressure.

I think it's been a IittIe harder

for Venus to have
to deal with that.

I wouId say out of the eight finaIs,
that Serena's won six of them.

I had a brother that pIayed
professional tennis,

and something teIIs me
that I wouIdn't be as forgiving

or understanding or--

cIapping. I see Venus cIapping.

I guess it's the uItimate bIood
is thicker than water.

l feel like l should take
Iessons from them more so

than me trying to expIain away
how the heII they do that.

At the end of the day,
it says "Williams,"

and if you Iose, maybe one day
someone will mistaken

for the other WiIIiams, whatever,

fiII in the bIank, "V" or "S."

P.A. ANNOUNCER: Good morning,
ladies and gentlemen.

May I have your attention pIease?

We wiII shortIy be opening the gates.

- Grunting?
- Yeah.

At Ieast one of your daughters

is one of the foremost proponents
of grunting.

Do you think that's
reaIIy heIping her game or not?

Let's see,
to grunt or not to grunt?

That is the question.

And it seems to be
aII over on the British press

and the British mind.

I beIieve in Ietting grunt
and Iet not grunt.

Is it something that you taIk
about a Iot with them or not?

WeII...

grunting has not been
the focus of our conversations.

Um, we more or Iess taIk
about technique

and how to move your feet
and things like that.

[sighs] God damn...

bother me about a stupid grunt.

Can't beIieve it.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
No one knows about Serena.

We know
from oId it doesn't take Iong

before Serena comes from someone
who's out of the picture

into the headline story,
and that couId easiIy happen here.

Serena has never Iost
in the first round

of a Grand SIam in 44 appearances.

[grunts]

[cheers and appIause]

MALE COMMENTATOR: Oh !

A fantastic raIIy.

FEMALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
40-Love.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Three match points then for the champion.

[grunts]

STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
Game, set, match, Miss WiIIiams.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
It was a terrific third set.

It was a wonderfuI scrap.

And Aravane Rezai
shouId take so much credit

for what she achieved out there,
but in the end,

WiIIiams in the third set
bruised her badly.

And who wouId bet against her now
from making it three titIes in a row?

It's just been so hard,
and l never dreamt

I wouId be here right now,
you know,

so it's been a disaster year,
but, you know,

l've been praying
and, you know, have my famiIy,

and, you know, I Iove tennis,

and to be abIe to come back
at WimbIedon is pretty awesome,

and I've just Iearned that,
you know,

you can never take
any moment for granted,

and, you know, I reaIIy--

was really trying to draw
spirituaIIy on my God Jehovah,

who I've been reaIIy trying
to get a cIoser reIationship to.

[Hole Hearted playing]

VENUS:
So do you remember this?

SERENA:
Oh, aII through there.

♪ Ooh, yeah ♪

Do you remember this
in Haines city?

You don't remember this?

No?

Come on.

♪ ShouId have known
from the start ♪

♪ I faII short with the things I do ♪

♪ HoIe hearted ♪

[Iaughs]

You Iike that song.

I think that the WiIIiams sisters
are artistic peopIe.

Any artist has to be obsessive,

has to have the capacity
to concentrate so exactIy

on what it is they wish to achieve

in terms of artistry
that you Iose a Iot.

I'm not sure that I think
l'm a perfectionist.

I know--I wouId say
more or Iess I am obsessive.

That's something I've worked on
on the court too, 'cause l'll--

I wouId be out there formerIy--
for two hours,

I couId be determined,
and I wouId practice one thing,

and before I know it,
my court time's done.

Someone eIse wouId come
and get the court,

and I didn't practice anything eIse.

You know, I hate that every time,

I have to bounce the baII
five times before l serve,

and the second serve,
I just onIy can bounce it twice.

You've got to be obsessive
to be a tennis player.

Gosh, I mean, who eIse wants
to hit 1 7 million balls

over the net and then go
and do it again the next day?

Every athlete--
MichaeI Jordan knows,

"Oh, I got to shoot 300 jumpers every day,
or else l'm gonna suck,"

and they got to hit "x" amount
of baIIs every day or,

"I'm going to suck.

"and I've seen peopIe that suck,
and I've seen their Iives,

"and I don't want to have
one of their lives.

"I Iike being good."

And they Iike being good.

So they, you know--
you're gonna keep this OCD thing up.

VENUS:
I think perfectionist peopIe are nuts.

I think obsessive peopIe are a-okay.

You know, you see a lot
of pIayers that'II break down

if they miss three or four shots.

They start to get mentaI.

You don't see that out
of the WiIIiams 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 Iet it affect you."

And their father was aIways
teIIing them,

"You know,
it's us against the worId."

MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
Hello.

A very warm weIcome to finaIs day

in the women's tournament
here at Indian WeIIs.

l can't imagine
another experience in sports

being as profound
as the Indian WeIIs experience.

SERENA:
It was my favorite tournament to go to.

lt was like,
"I Iive to go to Indian WeIIs."

In the semifinaIs,

Venus decided she couIdn't
pIay because she was injured.

And so she yieIded a waIkover
to her sister Serena.

Suddenly you think,
"Oh, yeah, weII, Iook, yeah, sure,

"obviousIy 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 defauIted
and feIt 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 peopIe
in unison boo one pIayer.

Serena's Iooking up in the stands,
Iike, trying to find it.

Like, "What's going on?"
Iike, "What am I missing?"

and then it dawns on her
that it was her.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
Richard WiIIiams waIked down,

and here's the crowd again.

[crowd booing]

It's a Iong waIk down
to the courtside box.

Richard actuaIIy stopped
and Iooked at somebody and, uh...

it was a very tense situation.

RICHARD:

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
Here was Richard after the heckIer

and more boos.

[crowd booing]

MALE BRITISH COMMENTATOR:
An American crowd

booing an American famiIy,

and you have to say

that it does smack
of a IittIe bit of racism.

ISHA: When you go to your home state
where you're from,

coupIe hours south of Compton,

and you're being booed,

and the person that they're cheering
is this Belgian woman.

She pIayed the first few games,
and she was crying.

SERENA:
Someone caIIed me "nigger,"

and it was--it was intense.

l prayed on the sidelines,
and I puIIed myseIf together.

I didn't pray to win.

I just prayed to get through this

and get off this court
and just be over this aIready.

FLEMING: Serena got booed
from the warm-up

to the last point
to the trophy ceremony.

WeII, she won the match
because she's a champion,

and she has the heart of a tiger.

Have you seen Rocky?

WeII, that's her. [Iaughs]

[cheers and appIause]

FLEMING: When you taIk
about Serena's speech,

at the end, she says, uh...

"You guys were pretty tough
on me today,"

and she goes...

SERENA: And I wouId Iike to thank
everyone that supported me,

and if you didn't,
I Iove you guys anyway.

Thank you.

[cheers and boos]

ISHA: She waIked off the court,
and she was like,

"I'm not going back next year."

SERENA: The tournament wiII go on
with or without me,

but I'm not going back.

I mean, honestIy, Iike,
you Iook at peopIe

Iike Martin Luther King
and MaIcoIm X and Rosa Parks.

lf they didn't believe
and stand up for what they beIieved in,

then we wouIdn't have the freedoms
that we experience today.

What I had to go through
was so smaII

compared
to what they had to go through,

and if l can't stand up
for something Iike 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 formerIy
was an eIitist white person's foIIy.

I mean, obviousIy, the fact
that they're, you know, bIack--

l mean, yeah, Althea Gibson
opened things up in the '50s.

FlLM NARRATOR: Althea Gibson
heIped to toppIe the IiIy-white tradition

in tennis by winning the NationaI

and WimbIedon 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 abIe to sort of get the--

maybe quite the same chance
as they have.

Being bIack gives everybody a edge,
'cause you just--

Everything's harder,
so it's no different

than a guy wearing weights
around his ankIes

so he couId jump higher.

BIack is just a weight on your skin.

When you reaIIy Iearn
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 pIace.

Some peopIe may think
the bIack athIete is now on a par,

an absolute par,
with the white athIete.

l don't think that is true,
and I think the WiIIiams sisters

have had to Iive with that fact
that the war is not over,

when they have performed
with extraordinary vaIor and courage

and skiII
under difficuIt circumstances.

FEMALE REPORTER:
It happened in the 1 1 00 bIock

of GreenIeaf BouIevard in Compton.

Yetunde Price, who is
the oIder sister of tennis stars

Venus and Serena WiIIiams,
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 sIeep.

And it was such terribIe news,
obviousIy.

SERENA:
Yetunde was my oIder sister.

We aIways caIIed her Tunde
for short.

ISHA: You know, she wouId,
you know, kind of, Iike,

Iook out for us and make sure
that we were taken care of.

She meant a Iot to me.

l 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 eIse
in a white DenaIi

with tinted windows
whom they were...

l 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 cIose
with her kids.

My mother moved to CaIifornia
to heIp with them.

I can't stop
untiI I figure this out.

JUSTUS BOBBITT: I don't think
that my grandmother,

a lot of time,
knows her own vaIue

or her worth sometimes.

I don't think that she thinks

that she's as good
as an infIuence as she is

or she has as big of an impact
as she does on not onIy me,

but holding
my whoIe famiIy together.

ORACENE: So she got
to feeI good about herseIf,

and knowing
that she can do it and Ietting go,

'cause she Iet them go
a IittIe bit today, though.

JAlR:
Every time that she hit a baII

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 aImost doing
the same thing.

Make sure that
when you're out there today,

you don't get so mad at her

that you cIoud your thinking
on the court.

And your feet.

You're not ready sometimes.

Just a IittIe haIf of a second.

[cheers and appIause]

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 beIow par.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
She really was.

VENUS:
How do I deaI with Iosses?

WOMAN : Yeah, how do you deaI
with Iosses Iike the one today?

I used to get reaIIy upset.

Like, l wouldn't change
my cIothes for a coupIe 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 whiIe, I reaIized
I hated feeIing that way,

so I make sure I move on immediateIy,
within the hour.

You know, I haven't--

You know,
I try to fix my mistakes,

but I just hate feeIing that upset,

and it's just miserabIe,
so l 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 Iet up.

You bring your best game
out there too.

And stay off the bottom
of your feet.

Off the bottom.

[appIause]

STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
7-6.

SERENA: I was defending champion
at WimbIedon, so I feIt pressure.

I was Iike, "If I don't win,
l'm gonna be ranked,

"Iike, you know, 200 in the worId,"

and I didn't want that for myseIf.

I was Iike, "I've got to win.
I've got to win,"

and I put so much stress on myseIf,
Iike, you know,

I couIdn't hit shots,
and I couIdn't do anything.

[grunts]

[cheers and appIause]

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 WiIIiams famiIy.

MALE REPORTER: A lot of people
wouId probabIy say if you'd come here

after sort of the best part
of a year out of the game

and waItzed away with the titIe,

it wouIdn't necessariIy 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 stiII?

Yeah, I'm super happy that I Iost.

Go, women's tennis.

[indistinct chatter]

Are you gonna eat
that Indian food?

SERENA:
When the food gets here,

can you guys
make Iike a banana and spIit?

BAJIN :

- When the food gets here...
- Mm-hmm.

can you make Iike a banana...

and spIit?

- Oh.
- In other words, Ieave.

- Do you get it now?
- Yeah.

SERENA: I was reaIIy disappointed
at Wimbledon when l lost,

'cause I feIt Iike I worked reaIIy hard,
considering, um, everything.

I feIt Iike I had trained,
and I'd trained,

and I was reaIIy, reaIIy upset.

♪ You need a bodyguard ♪

♪ My money boy said I wouId
have been a good prez ♪

♪ But I'ma be
a better, moguI music exec ♪

♪ I sheII out money ♪

♪ The first thing I did was got
aII hands on deck ♪

♪ A deaI for a coupIe miII ♪

♪ My Iife, worId tour ♪

♪ On course, appIause ♪

♪ Cars and jets, mic check ♪

What would be the perfect date
for either Serena or Venus WiIIiams?

If you're a powerfuI woman,
you know,

you're gonna have, most IikeIy,
not a powerfuI man.

Who would be
the WiIIiams' knight in shining armor?

Nobody.

l was reminiscing
about my horribIe dates,

and one horribIe date I had

was when this guy
picked me up in a minivan.

[Iaughter]

With rims and tinted windows.

Like, aII pimped out.

And I was just Iike, "Oh, my God.

"I do not want to get
in this minivan,"

and what I shouId have done
in that situation,

once I saw the minivan,
I just shouId have twisted my ankIe.

[Iaughter]

Hey.

SERENA:
Right now I am married to me.

I am very seIfish.

I am getting reaIIy set
in my ways.

You know, it's reaIIy sad,

'cause there's a few great guys
out there that, you know,

are great, great guys.

I mean, wonderfuI peopIe.

But at the end of the day,
it's just like,

I reaIIy need to taIk
to that man in the mirror,

'cause they a IittIe crazy sometimes.

- Are you bIack?
- Nah.

I onIy date bIack 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 pIace, the gym?
You know--

Dan?

One white guy.

I've dated one white guy.
I Iove bIack guys.

That's already two.
I know another one who Iives in MaIibu.

Look, I don't mind white guys.

I just prefer bIack guys.

BAJIN : Uh. [moans]

Mikey.

- Hi, Big Daddy.
- Mikey.

Go make money.

[both giggIing]

l'm really, really
turning red right now.

ORACENE: Sascha,
you're gonna have a hernia.

Be carefuI.

- [Serena Iaughs]
- You'II get a hernia.

SERENA:
Oh, my God ! Ew!

I wouId never date Sasch.

Oh, my God.
I'm gonna throw up.

Oh.

Give me a minute.

[Iaughs] Ew.

[gasps]

Oh, no.

Sasch? Ugh.

Yuck.

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

And l 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 ideaI guy
has a body.

He pIays Xbox with me.

Can't be having kids
and doing that.

I want to sIeep aII day.

I don't want to do activities
with the kids.

[Iaughs]

She started saying, "I'II get married
when I'm 45, 50 years oId.

"That's when I'II be ready,"

you know, so, you know, I--
That's her new thing.

She was Iike, "I just have to--

"'cause I don't want anyone teIIing me
what l can and can't do.

"I don't want anyone teIIing me
how to spend my money.

"I don't want--I don't want
anyone doing that."

Crowd goes wiId.

WOMAN : Can you taIk about being
a Jehovah's Witness?

What does it mean to you?

I grew up in the Kingdom HaIIs
as a young person,

so I think that's just shaped
everything in my life.

My dad aIways said, "AIways put
God first, even above family."

WOMAN ON P.A.:
To my right, you aII know

I have Venus and Serena WiIIiams.

lSHA: We're very clear
on the roIe of the femaIe

in a marriage situation.

Just based on what we beIieve,

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 whoIe function of a sport,

and then come home
and have your husband say,

you know,
"I didn't Iike this dinner,"

l mean, that--l mean,
you got to understand

that might be a tad bit difficuIt.

You're reaIIy good.
How oId are you?

GIRL: EIeven.

SERENA: I thought I wouId do better
at Wimbledon,

but I had just recovered
from aII this stuff, aII this--

You know, my Iung probIems--
that l had gone through.

After that, me and Sascha,
we just went at it every day,

and we were totaIIy dedicated.

Oh, this rain won't Iast Iong.

It'II be cIear.

I'II have my Iunch.

ASSlSTANT:
Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

ORACENE:
Whoa. Don't do that.

♪ This couId be your Iast dance ♪

♪ So get your back up
off the waII ♪

♪ Lose your mind tonight ♪

♪ Let go ♪

♪ On the fIoor ♪

♪ Let it go ♪

[pIane engines whooshing]

FEMALE COMMENTATOR: The taIk is
the WiIIiams being favorites here,

and they can win,

even though they haven't
pIayed hardIy any matches.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR 2 :
There's a Iot of taIk about the woman

who's seeded 28th this year,

which is not a pIace
she's used to being.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
She had a pretty serious iIIness,

and she was deaIing with a possibIy
career-threatening situation.

MALE COMMENTATOR 2:
Life-threatening, aImost.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
And life-threatening.

She is now playing
with this renewed passion,

and I think peopIe wouId
be shocked

if anybody but Serena's hoIding
the champion's trophy.

- Go, Venus!
- Go, Venus!

- Serena!
- Serena!

Serena!

- Serena!
- Serena!

I think for every American,

the U.S. Open
is something speciaI,

a tournament in their own country,

and especiaIIy
this big, you know?

I mean, it's a home Grand SIam,
you know?

And it's just a different atmosphere.
It's Iike a baIIgame.

It's way more Ioud
than any other pIace,

and I think, actuaIIy,
Serena likes that.

It's just more energy
at the whoIe stadium.

[cheers and appIause]

TRAINER: Up.

BAJIN :

Good, now push the booty up.

Squeeze those thighs.

♪ She feeIing buIIetproof ♪

SERENA: WeII, I aIways try
different things.

l always like
to try different workouts.

I started
a IittIe bit of poIe dancing,

'cause it is
an incredibIe workout.

WOMAN : I wanted you to taIk more
about your size and body image.

WeII, first of aII, I don't do any--
I don't even Iift weights,

'cause I think my arms
are already too built,

so I don't use my upper body.

Even--my muscIes
are just for show.

I actuaIIy never use 'em.

I don't know why they're stiII here,
'cause l never lift weights.

♪ She feeIin' buIIetproof ♪

I aIways try
not to be pumped up.

My reasoning for being fit,
it's aIways to Iose weight

and to be sIimmer
and to be sexier and--

Hi, my name is Summer,

and I'm working with an event
in Palm Beach,

the WiIIiams InvitationaI.

And you can ask for me, Summer.

My Iast name is Diaz, D-i-a-z.

Yeah, I definiteIy 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 athIete.

There's Summer.
She heIps me out a Iot.

Summer has a whoIe story.

[Iaughs]

Summer has a whoIe story.

SERENA: Like, if I have to write
Iong Ietters or if I have to do,

you know, different things,
then Summer does it.

She got married.

Now she got divorced.
She moved to EngIand.

[adopts British accent]
NormaIIy when she taIks

to peopIe on the phone,
she just gets on the phone,

and she's Iike, "HeIIo, I'm Summer.
How are you?"

SERENA: When I'm doing
my fashion, you know,

I get into
this whoIe fashion moment

and this whoIe fashion thing,
whether l'm on HSN or--

Just the perfect jegging,
and they go reaIIy, reaIIy weII

with the today's speciaI.

SERENA:
You know, I'm thinking the designs,

or I'm drawing, or, you know,
I'm puIIing out tears.

And then the other girI that, um...

The one that's reaIIy mean is Megan.

Oh, no.

SERENA:
She's extremeIy mischievous.

You don't want to run into Megan.

[Iaughing]

There's Taquanda.

Whoo.

Taquanda is rough.

She is not Christian.

[Iaughs]

She's from the hood.

She was at the U.S. Open in 2009.

[grunts]

ENBERG: Foot fauIt, and that gives
Kim Clijsters 2 match points.

Serena WiIIiams charges

after the Iinesperson
that made the call.

In that particuIar match
that Taquanda played--

First of aII, I wasn't there,
but l heard about it,

and I ended up getting
a Iot of the backIash from it.

Laquanda got Ioose that day.

Uh-oh.

McENROE:
It was a brutaI caII.

I mean, to me--I'm neither gonna
disagree with her about that.

It was terribIe.
I was there. I was watching.

I couIdn't beIieve that caII
was made then.

But pIay it back
in your documentary,

and I think you'II--
might agree with me.

BODO: The foot fauIt in tennis
is one of those very, very tricky things.

FundamentaIIy,
your foot cannot cross the Iine

or go into the court
untiI after you've hit the baII.

MARY CARlLLO:
And now Serena's not done.

She goes back a second time.

McENROE:
When I saw her Iose it that bad,

I remember the first thing
I thought was, Iike,

"Did l ever do that,
you know, get to that IeveI?"

and I think she topped me
that one time.

[crowd booing]

FEMALE REPORTER:
If you were a tennis pIayer,

who wouId you want to be Iike?

Um, McEnroe.

- Yeah?
- Yes.

Do you think you'd ever
be Iike 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 basebaII manager's yeIIing,

cursing, you can't hear it.

But if a tennis pIayer does it,
you can,

because the mics
are so cIose and they're so Ioud.

SERENA: I didn't say I wouId kiII you?
Are you serious?

We couId do a dissertation
on why she's so poIarizing.

I mean, there are obviousIy themes
of class and sex and race

that are just beIow the surface.

KING: You see Roddick.
You've seen McEnroe.

You've seen Connors.

KING: You see aII those pIayers
go absolutely ape,

and peopIe 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 pIayer

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 caII somebody
a bitch in tweIve years.

CLINTON : When I see a great athIete
do something

that seems seIf-destructive,

I aIways think, "We shouId cut
'em a little slack."

I didn't pay much attention to it.
I stiII Iike her.

MALE REPORTER: Serena, do you think
the Iineswoman deserves an apoIogy?

An apoIogy for...

- From you.
- From me?

For, you know, the yeIIing
and what you said?

Oh, weII, how many peopIe
yeII at IinespeopIe, so--

Really wanted
to apoIogize sincereIy,

'cause l am
a very pridefuI person,

and I'm a very emotionaI person.

I'm a very intense person,
and l think it all showed.

I think the whoIe point
of Iearning from your mistakes

is not to do the same thing,

and so I want to get
another bad Iine caII

so I can get some more practice
and see how we do then,

'cause then that wouId be awesome.

MALE REPORTER:
Serena, what do you remember most

from the way
your Iast U.S. Open ended?

SERENA: Um, I don't know.
I don't think about it.

Are you stiII thinking about it?

Oh, my God,
that was, Iike, two years ago.

This is, Iike, two years Iater.

It was two years ago,
and Iast year, I didn't pIay,

and if anything, I thought,
"Wow, l'm back."

You know, I haven't pIayed
in a Iong time.

I'm teIIing you, out of sight,
out of mind for me.

You guys shouId try it.

Your spring--

So what wiII the Iine be?

This dress, you see the front
is very simpIe,

and this has,
Iike, a square neckIine,

so it's very fIattering.

Yeah, so what we did,
it was this right here.

WeII, I think their styIe
is very independent

and quite rebellious,
and they're not interested

in Iooking Iike anybody eIse,

nor do they reaIIy care
what anybody eIse thinks.

The biggest chaIIenge for me

when l play is deciding
what coIor I'm going to wear.

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Now, I'm no aficionado, Tracy,

you'II be reIieved to hear,

but l'm told that
that's a new range of naiI poIish,

and the purple is called
"Grape, Set, and Match."

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
Get a look at her dress.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR 2:
ApparentIy caIIed the WonderIand 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 pIayers Iike Andre Agassi

and Venus and Serena
that the whoIe Iook of tennis

has totaIIy 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 peopIe 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 Iast."

You know, l train
the same amount or more

than anyone eIse
with haIf the resuIt.

ASSISTANT:
Um, weII, she's actuaIIy gonna

have a match probabIy
in two to three hours,

but she's saying
how she just woke up today

and she's feeIing reaIIy 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 aII
and feeling like you're sick,

but you don't have a coId or a fIu.

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 feeIing good,

and my hand started swelling,
and I started having joint pain,

and I couIdn't controI my shots.

Like, I had no feeI Ieft.

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...

Iet it work.

You can't rush it.

VENUS:

BRIAN WILLIAMS:
Back now as promised

with more
on this surprising announcement

by Venus WiIIiams,
a tennis superstar by any measure,

that she is out of the game,
at least for now,

puIIing 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 stiII in New York,

and she said she was gonna
hang out for a IittIe bit.

WOMAN :

Hey, how are you?

VENUS:
Thank you very much.

Thank you.

It's a short Iife as a tennis pIayer.

I mean, they're extraordinary,

how Iong that they've remained
on the top of the game,

so I think aIong the way,
you reaIIy do need to find

what eIse interests you,
and if it's fashion

or acting or working in teIevision.

You're supposed
to be my man, Rasheed.

You were supposed to be there for me.
l needed you.

Great, but have that baIance.

FEMALE REPORTER:
Now your sister has announced

that she's been diagnosed
with this autoimmune disorder.

SERENA: She's been struggIing
for a Iong time,

and now she can actuaIIy get better.

I know. I shouId probabIy go
to the gym and eat,

but I'm having a hard time
doing the things

I'm supposed to do nowadays.

SERENA:
I feeI Iike my serve sucks.

My return,
I feeI Iike I'm missing so many shots.

I just...

I mean, the onIy thing
I'm doing weII is, Iike--

Today I don't know.

But I expect so much from myseIf.

RICHARD: When she's practicing,
you look at her,

and if you didn't know her game,
you'd get disgusted.

But she pIay about 20 times
better than she practice.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR: Serena WiIIiams
is taking on Victoria Azarenka.

Now, it's a cIash everybody
was Iooking forward to.

[both grunting]

Breathe, Meg. ReIax.

ASSISTANT: Take it right here, Serena.
Come on.

RICHARD:
Serena, end this thing.

VENUS:
You can do it, Serena.

[both grunting]

[cheers and appIause]

ORACENE:

I was just hoping she can
get through this match.

And see it for herseIf, you know?

'Cause if the girI
had a IittIe bit more moxie...

I don't want you to sit here

and say I'm the onIy 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 weII.

That's it.
You don't have to sit here

and yeII at me and be Iike,
you know...

What?

I know, but I'm being honest
with you too this time

and saying that I feIt

that I pIayed good tennis
today out there--

And I say you didn't.

And here I pIayed Iike shit.

I couIdn't be more upset
with how I pIayed.

BAJlN : l know l'm not gonna
convince Serena in that moment

to have her saying,
"Okay, Sascha, you're right."

Like, she wouId never,
ever say that.

l told her many times, like,
that if she has stress buiIdup,

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.

l made a joke and said
that I asked Ana Ivanovic

when is she finaIIy gonna hire me,

and I wasn't being serious at aII.

You know, I mean, Serena shouId
know that I Iove her

and that I'm here for her.

SERENA:
He reaIIy hurt my feeIings today.

Because he taIked about
another woman?

No, because he toId her that--
when was she gonna hire him.

Like, l 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 pIayer's
going to a Grand SIam.

"like, if anything,
I shouId buiId her up

"instead of tear her down."

[pIane engine whooshing]

My stress IeveIs are aIways
way higher during Grand SIams.

I don't Iike anyone around me,
and it's annoying.

ASSISTANT:

SERENA:

CongratuIations, baby.

What are you doing now?

Watching your daughter kick ass.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

Yeah, but what eIse are you doing?

Watching her kick ass tomorrow.

[Iaughter]

- CongratuIations.
- Thank you.

Huge win. It was great.

- Hope she wins it aII.
- Thank you.

- CongratuIations.
- Thank you.

The onIy person can beat
Serena here is Serena.

ENBERG: We weIcome you
on this soIemn day,

ten-year anniversary of 9/1 1 ,

and the whoIe worId feIt
the pain and the terror

of ten years ago.

Serena WiIIiams has aIready
announced she's pIaying this

for the people
of the United States in memory

of those that were Iost on this day.

Serena, six months ago,

you were in the hospitaI
with a bIood cIot.

Now you're in the finaIs
of the U.S. Open.

How emotionaI has this journey
back been for you?

It's been reaIIy emotionaI
and really, really hard.

And everything--I'm just, I feeI
so bIessed and reaIIy Iucky.

MAN : Stand by in three, two, one.
And sending.

MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
Serena Williams!

[cheers and appIause]

ENBERG: Serena WiIIiams,
who has won this titIe three times,

has not dropped a singIe set.

[cheers and appIause]

McENROE:
Remember, she did pIay Iate.

She Iooks Iethargic so far.

CARILLO: See, I don't think
she looks lethargic.

I think she Iooks tight.

It's showing up in her serve,
which is usuaIIy her go-to move.

ENBERG: Who is this woman
masquerading as the three-time champion?

First time she's Iost 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 middIe of that shot.

The baII had not Ianded
when she was saying, "Come on."

McENROE:
She shouId pIay a Iet.

CARILLO: That's bad form.
That is bad form.

McENROE:
I don't know if it's her point.

SERENA:

Come on, reIax, 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 caII, actuaIIy,

the crowd aII turned
in Serena's favor.

[cheers and appIause]

ENBERG: The crowd now rooting strongIy
in behaIf of Serena WiIIiams.

PATRICK McENROE:
She makes it personaI 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 totaIIy unprofessionaI

and reaIIy cIassIess,
to be honest.

I mean, I think it was stupid,

but I wouIdn't say
it was classless.

PeopIe say 1 ,000 times worse,
and they think it's cute.

And l say,
"You're ugIy on the inside,"

which is the most geekish thing
anyone could possibly say.

If I wouId have said that
in high schooI,

I wouId have got beaten up.

So I aImost wanted to beat up
myself when l heard that.

I was Iike, "Oh, my God, what a--"
[Iaughs]

"What a nerd.

HonestIy, couIdn't I have said
something better?"

Ugh. Loser.

[grunts]

[cheers and appIause]

ENBERG: Oh, my.

A fantastic upset.

The AustraIian 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 Iate.

She went around the same time.

Coming out today, morning again.

It's not easy.

l think maybe all
of these IittIe aspects put together

definiteIy sIowed her down
on the court a IittIe bit today.

Are you with me?

SERENA:

She was cracking 'em today.

She definiteIy hit hard
and just went for--

went for broke,
and I just probabIy shouId

have been Iighter on my toes
and moving a IittIe faster.

Everyone Iives to be, you know,
in the final at Wimbledon

or the finaI at the U.S. Open.

Whatever happens in that moment,
you Iive for 'em,

and we breathe for them,

and, you know, hopefuIIy
l'll be back next year.

McENROE: Do you have two seconds
I can speak to you aIone,

- just the two of us?
- Sure.

McENROE: Somewhere--We can just
jump in here for one second.

WOMAN :
Uh, principaI's office.

SERENA: Uh-oh, we're going
to the bathroom.

[woman Iaughs]

McENROE:

SERENA:

McENROE:

SERENA:

TALESE: The tragedy
for every athIete is age,

the inevitabiIity of age
and the inevitabiIity

of not being abIe
to pursue your dream

because your body
won't foIIow you any Ionger.

KING: Your body teIIs you a Iot.

Like, maybe you're haIf a step sIower
or a step sIower.

Maybe you notice that you are in
a different pIace emotionaIIy.

At some point, the star wiII fade,

and there'll be
some other great tennis pIayer.

Serena and I decided that
we're not gonna have

to have a traditionaI career,

so we're gonna keep pIaying
and pIaying.

Even when we're too terribIe
for singIes,

we're stiII gonna pIay doubIes.

FLEMING: Through their injuries,
it's kind of woken peopIe up

to the reaIity that there
wiII be a tremendous void

when they're gone.

[cheers and appIause]

MALE COMMENTATOR:
Two championship points...

for a 5th WimbIedon
and a 1 4th major titIe.

Game.

[cheers and appIause]

Serena Williams,
champion of WimbIedon again.

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
She is our greatest champion

the Iast 20 years of women's tennis,

arguabIy maybe
the greatest woman pIayer that ever Iived.

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 aII,

and I couId never
have done this without you.

[cheers and appIause]

STADlUM ANNOUNCER:
So you've got five of these trophies now,

so at Ieast it can match the
WimbIedon trophy cabinet of Venus now.

I've aIways wanted everything
that Venus has had,

so I had to copy you again,

so sorry.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: CongratuIations
on a fifth WimbIedon trophy.

Serena WiIIiams!

[cheers and appIause]

MALE COMMENTATOR: Oh !

Oh !
- FEMALE COMMENTATOR: Whoa!

[Venus screams]

[song begins]

[cheers and appIause]

FEMALE COMMENTATOR:
To me, Venus WiIIiams,

the most intimidating figure
in women's tennis up at net ever.

She couId pIay doubIes
with her sister for many years.

MALE COMMENTATOR: Serena
and Venus WiIIiams at championship point.

♪ As it is written, so shaII it be ♪

- [screaming]
- [cheers and appIause]

MALE STADIUM ANNOUNCER:
And the WimbIedon

Ladies' DoubIes champions 201 2,

Serena Williams
and Venus WiIIiams.

[cheers and appIause]

CLlNTON : When you get older,
you got to win by what you know,

by what you've Iearned,

and by the mentaI toughness
you've acquired,

so what I hoped wouId happen
for both of them

is that they wouId be abIe
to rehab and come back

and that all the benefit
of aII those other tournaments,

aII the victories and the defeats,
wouId pIay out

in their having a great next chapter
in their tennis career.

♪ A prodigy of the ghetto ♪

♪ Her destiny ♪

♪ Was to pIay in the arena eye ♪

♪ And reign in the arena ♪

♪ You can see her drive
through her parents' eyes ♪

♪ When balls fly,
don't be surprised ♪

♪ When she comes to the arena ♪

♪ BuiIt for the arena ♪

♪ This is the moment... ♪

- lsn't that fun?
- I know, it moves so--

It's insane, right?

♪ As the phoenix rise,
l'm a champion ♪

Yo, I'm back in the top ten,
you know?

GirI, I saw that.

How can you and Venus
keep in the top ten

- and y'aII don't ever pIay?
- I don't know.

♪ That I waited aII my Iife for ♪

l don't know
how we gonna move this.

Oh, Lord have mercy.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.

♪ With the heart of a warrior ♪

Hi, everyone,

WeIcome to the Second AnnuaI
Williams lnvitational.

We'II make this brief, so that way,
we can aII get on the court.

♪ But you can't break me ♪

♪ I was buiIt for the arena ♪

And I Iove you.

You better Iove me.
Let's go.

Hey.

♪ Say what you want to ♪

♪ But you can't break me ♪

♪ When my 'drenaIine rush
in the arena ♪

♪ The crowd roars in the arena ♪

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ As the phoenix rise ♪

♪ I'm a champion ♪

♪ With the heart of a warrior ♪

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ I'm the phoenix rising,
champion ♪

♪ With the heart of a warrior ♪

♪ When I strive ♪

♪ I can make
Iightning and thunder go high ♪

♪ They say we aII actors
playing our part ♪

♪ So in this game caIIed Iife ♪

♪ I'ma pIay it with my heart ♪

♪ And give it aII I got ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ As the phoenix rise ♪

♪ I'm a champion
with the heart of a warrior ♪

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ I'm the phoenix rising,
champion ♪

♪ With the heart of a warrior ♪

♪ This is the moment
that I waited aII my Iife for ♪

♪ I'm the phoenix rising,
champion ♪

♪ With the heart of Serena ♪