<P> The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players : Venus Williams ( b . 1980 ) , a seven - time Grand Slam title winner ( singles ) , and Serena Williams ( b . 1981 ) , twenty - three - time Grand Slam title winner ( singles ) , both of whom were coached from an early age by their parents Richard Williams and Oracene Price . There is a noted professional rivalry between them -- between the 2001 US Open and the 2017 Australian Open tournaments , they met in nine Grand Slam singles finals . They became the first two players , female or male , to play in 4 consecutive grand slam singles finals from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open ; Serena famously won all 4 to complete the first of two `` Serena Slams '' . Between 2000 and 2016 , a 17 - year span , they collectively won 12 Wimbledon singles titles ( Venus won 5 and Serena won 7 ) . By winning the 2001 Australian Open women 's doubles title , they became the 5th pair to complete the Career Doubles Grand Slam and the only pair to complete the Career Doubles Golden Slam . At the time , Venus and Serena were only 20 and 19 years old , respectively . Since then they have gone on to add another two Olympic gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics . Nearly a decade later , the duo would go on to win 4 consecutive grand slam doubles titles from 2009 Wimbledon through 2010 Roland Garros , which would catapult them to co-No. 1 doubles players on 7 June 2010 . Two weeks later , on 21 June 2010 , Serena would hold the No. 1 singles ranking and Venus would be right behind her at No. 2 in singles . Their most recent grand slam doubles titles came at the 2012 Wimbledon & 2016 Wimbledon events . They remain very close , often watching each other 's matches in support , even after one of them has been knocked out of a tournament . </P>
<P> The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players : Venus Williams ( b . 1980 ) , a seven - time Grand Slam title winner ( singles ) , and Serena Williams ( b . 1981 ) , twenty - three - time Grand Slam title winner ( singles ) , both of whom were coached from an early age by their parents Richard Williams and Oracene Price . There is a noted professional rivalry between them -- between the 2001 US Open and the 2017 Australian Open tournaments , they met in nine Grand Slam singles finals . They became the first two players , female or male , to play in 4 consecutive grand slam singles finals from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open ; Serena famously won all 4 to complete the first of two `` Serena Slams '' . Between 2000 and 2016 , a 17 - year span , they collectively won 12 Wimbledon singles titles ( Venus won 5 and Serena won 7 ) . By winning the 2001 Australian Open women 's doubles title , they became the 5th pair to complete the Career Doubles Grand Slam and the only pair to complete the Career Doubles Golden Slam . At the time , Venus and Serena were only 20 and 19 years old , respectively . Since then they have gone on to add another two Olympic gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics . Nearly a decade later , the duo would go on to win 4 consecutive grand slam doubles titles from 2009 Wimbledon through 2010 Roland Garros , which would catapult them to co-No. 1 doubles players on 7 June 2010 . Two weeks later , on 21 June 2010 , Serena would hold the No. 1 singles ranking and Venus would be right behind her at No. 2 in singles . Their most recent grand slam doubles titles came at the 2012 Wimbledon & 2016 Wimbledon events . They remain very close , often watching each other 's matches in support , even after one of them has been knocked out of a tournament . </P>
what age did the williams sisters start playing tennis
what age did the williams sisters start playing tennis
an early age
an early age