Inside Pitch: Tennis Sisters Venus & Serena Williams and the Pursuit of Greatness in ‘King Richard’

In today’s Inside Pitch, Grace shares her thoughts on the filmKing Richardcurrently on HBO Max, featuring the story of the legendary tennis-playing Williams sisters and how they became all-time greats thanks in large part to their father. Richard Williams.

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Now, I haven’t been a great father, but I’ve never done anything but try to protect you.

What Richard Williamsthe father of tennis legends Venus and serena williams, says in the award-winning film King Richard.

This film focuses on the journey of Richard Williams, who plays Will Smithas she tries to help her girls reach their full potential as tennis players while allowing them a childhood.

This is of course a story told through tennis, but the themes that stuck with me can be applied to any sport and honestly anything that someone wants to be great at from acting to music to practicing medicine.

It takes a lot of effort to be great.

Richard had a 78-page plan for Venus and Serena’s journey to stardom. He let them practice several times at the local tennis court in the rain. He went from tennis coach to tennis coach trying to find someone to train his girls for free because they couldn’t afford it.

Richard grew up in an environment where hardly anyone respected him. He was a young black man who lived in a time when even touching a white person could lead to abuse. Listening to her story, it didn’t seem like she had much of a chance, but she also didn’t want her story to be her girls’ story.

He and his wife spent hours working with Venus and Serena on tennis skills and also building a family environment where hard work at school and time to just be a kid was expected.

Not everyone understood why Richard pushed his girls so hard. In fact, a neighbor across the street called the police on the family because he believed the girls were being abused.

I think many families who are trying to help their children achieve their dreams feel this misconception. To be great, you can’t just train a couple of times a week and make it wherever you want. It requires commitment and time spent every day developing your craft.

I believe this is one of the reasons why there is only a small percentage of collegiate and professional athletes in the world. They are the ones who want it so badly that they are willing to do anything to get there, even if it means practicing in the rain.

The rest of the world may not be able to understand why someone would want to do that to themselves. For the most part, they are happy with where they are, which is great. The life taken by that small percentage of athletes and their families is not for everyone. It requires a lot of patience, care and time.

I think there is even a difference between many Class II and Class I athletes…and I have seen this in my own life with me and my sister. Esther.

I’m a Division II athlete, and I’m not saying it didn’t take sacrifice and dedication to get to this level. Playing at any collegiate level is an accomplishment; However, the sacrifices I have made are nothing compared to the ones Esther has made to be Georgia’s commitment and the ones my father has made to help her.

I might hit three times a week, but Esther consistently hits five to seven times a week. Most of his week is spent working out, practicing and doing schoolwork. He also plays high school basketball, so he has to fit that into his schedule.

Before he committed, while still going to camps in the winter, he had to miss basketball practices and games to pursue his first love and achieve the dream he had been clinging to since childhood.

My dad has taken him to almost every tournament and if he can’t make it, he makes sure he has a way to get there. I can’t imagine how much the expenses have been or what it feels like to be away for almost the entire summer, except for maybe three or four weekends.

I believe that other people who see that they do will feel the same. I’m not sure they fully understand why my dad and Esther are so committed to softball, and sometimes I don’t either.

There are times in the summer when I wish they would just come home so we could go on family vacations to the beach or a Braves game. However, I don’t want to take Ester’s dream away from her.

I think misunderstanding is one of the costs of striving for greatness. In one way or another, we all probably have that neighbor who doesn’t get it. I know not everyone is going to accuse you of abuse, but there are probably some people asking why you’re gone all the time or why you can’t do different things with them.

It’s just the price you have to pay to be great, and every family and every athlete has to decide if it’s worth it, just like Richard Williams did.

Movie King Richard streaming now on HBO Max.

— Grace White, Additional Innings Correspondent