Venus Williams is among the most famous athletes in the world. A five-time Wimbledon singles champion. Seven-time Grand Slam tournament singles winner and, with younger sister Serena, a nine-time Grand Slam tournament doubles champion.
Just past her 29th birthday, the Lynwood native is as compelling on the court as she is in the board rooms where the business of tennis is conducted and its policies are shaped.
But ask her to name the other professional athletes she admires and she'll double-fault.
"I'm the worst with sports. I don't know anything outside of tennis," she said, laughing.
"Like when I go to the ESPYs people will say, 'Congratulations,' and I won't know who they are so I won't even know if I should say, 'Congratulations.' I don't know what they did. I feel like, stuck. And I don't want them to think I'm a loser or stuck up.
"I can tell by their physique they're an athlete but other than that I'm lost. So I'm sorry, I can't help you."
No apologies necessary.
She might not know a race car driver from a bowler at tonight's ESPY awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, but everyone will know who she is: One of the most powerful servers and baseliners the game has seen, driven to be the best since she and Serena learned the game from their father, Richard, on Compton's municipal courts.
She took little consolation that the Wimbledon title stayed in the family July 4 when Serena beat her, 7-6 (3), 6-2. "I still want to win. Especially that title," she said Tuesday during a visit to The Times' offices.
"I like winning that one. I'm used to winning that one."
That's not all she has won. What most fans don't know is that behind the scenes, the world's third-ranked player is just as powerful as she is on the court.
Williams has successfully pushed for equal prize money for women, helped formulate a better-calibrated tour schedule and was a key figure in a joint program between the WTA and UNESCO -- the cultural arm of the United Nations -- that promotes gender equality and leadership opportunities for women.
The idea for the UNESCO program emerged from her experience at an ESPY awards ceremony in which two Afghan women were honored for starting a soccer program in their war-torn homeland. The UNESCO-WTA program uses tennis as a vehicle to educate women around the world, making the sport a steppingstone to a better and fuller life.
