| June 17, 1980 |
| Venus Williams is born to Richard and Oracena Williams in Compton, California, a rough, predominantly minority city less than 20 miles south of Los Angeles. |
| Mid-to-late 1980's |
| Richard Williams, having learned tennis from books and training videos, runs Venus and Serena through hours of drills at a court near their home. |
| 1991 |
| The Williams move to Florida, where Venus and Serena are taught by professional coaches for the first time. Richard Williams refuses to allow his daughters to play in junior tournaments, a bid to prevent burnout. |
| 1995 |
| Despite a WTA rule failing to recognize players under 18, Serena appears in a handful of tournaments. |
| September 1999 |
| Serena, 17, wins the U.S. Open, the first black woman to win a Grand Slam since Althea Gibson in 1958. |
| March 2001 |
| Citing injury, Venus withdraws minutes before a semi-final match against Serena at a tournament in Indian Wells, California. Fans and critics deride the move, which fuels speculation that contests between the sisters are fixed. |
| Fall 2001 |
| The Williams sisters takes steps to ensure their financial future, securing lucrative endorsement deals -- including a $40 million deal between Venus and Reebok -- and studying fashion at the Art Institute of Florida. |
| July 2003 |
| For the second consecutive year, Venus and Serena Williams faced off in the Wimbledon singles finals, with Serena once again emerging victorious by a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 score. |
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| September 26, 1981 |
| Oracena Williams gives birth to her fifth and final child, Serena. |
| 1990 |
| Venus, 10, becomes the top-ranked female player under 12 in southern California. Journalists, agents and businessmen flock to Compton, as Venus lands on the cover of The New York Times and the pages of Sports Illustrated. |
| October 31, 1994 |
| After three years without playing competitively, Venus Williams enters her first pro tournament in Oakland, California. She defeats Shaun Stafford, a top 60 player, before losing a hard-fought match to the world's second-ranked player, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, in three sets. |
| September 1997 |
| Making her first U.S. Open appearance, Venus becomes the first unseeded finalist to reach the event's finals in nearly 40 years. |
| 2000 |
| Venus Williams wins Wimbledon, her first Grand Slam singles title. She later takes that year's U.S. Open title, earns a gold medal in singles and shares a doubles gold with sister Serena at the Sydney Olympics. |
| September 2001 |
| The Williams sisters meet in a Grand Slam finals for the first time at the U.S. Open. Venus wins the championship after a sloppy but hard-fought match. |
| July 2002 |
| Venus and Serena Williams face off in the Wimbledon finals, and Serena triumphs, 7-6 (4), 6-3, defeating her big sister a month after she had done so at the French Open. |
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