![]() “We go to the practice court on the outside and there are 300 people watching her practice. Yet, according to Macci, as the match got closer, his player didn’t seem to be affected by the pressure. No one knew how the teenager would react to the event, not even her coach, Rick Macci: “I didn’t know how she would respond to the fans in the stands”, he wrote in his book, Macci Magic. This is how the young prodigy ended up competing in Oakland. If she wasn’t going to make her first steps now, before the rule took effect, Venus would have to wait until she turned 16. ![]() What pushed the Williams family to change their minds was the “Capriati rule”, which had been conceived to prevent young players from an early burnout. A year before, he had even declared that any parent allowing his child to turn professional at 14 “should be shot”. It had been three years since Venus’ father, Richard, had announced that her daughter was not going to play any more junior events, and for a while, he wasn’t in a hurry to unleash her on the main tour. On October 31, 1994, the tennis world waited with baited breath as the Bank of the West Classic approached. Tennis Majors The facts: Venus Williams wins her pro match in straight sets Stafford’s best Grand Slam performance was reaching the fourth round at the 1994 French Open (lost to Sabine Hack, 6-4, 6-2), and she had claimed one title on the tour so far, in 1992, in Taiwan (defeating Ann Grossman in the final, 6-1, 6-3). Her highest WTA ranking was No 48 on January 22, 1990. NCAA champion in singles in 1988, the American turned pro in 1989. Shaun Stafford: Top 50 player and former NCAA champion.The wildcard was granted, and now the world of tennis was waiting to discover the much talked about Williams prodigy. To everyone’s surprise, in 1994, Venus asked for a wildcard at the Oakland Bank of the West Classic, a move motivated by the idea of avoiding the “Capriati rule”, which was designed to prevent young women from competing in too many events on tour before they turned 16, in order to avoid “burnout”. With Richard having heralded his daughter as the future world No 1, this decision was controversial – most tennis experts couldn’t imagine that someone could step right on to the main tour without having played any official tournament for years. Around the same time, Richard pulled his daughters out of junior tournaments to protect them from the pressures of early competition. Raised in Compton, California, her father and coach, Richard, moved the family to Florida in 1991 so that she and her younger sister Serena could train with a famous coach, Rick Macci. Venus Williams: the prodigy from the ghettos of Compton.For her first foray on the pro tour, the American teen made a strong impression, beating world No 59, Shaun Stafford, 6-3, 6-4. On this day, October 31, 1994, 14-year old Venus Williams made her professional debut in Oakland, three and a half years after her last appearance in an official junior competition.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |