Sport
Venus and Serena Williams boost tennis in Nigeria
On their first visit to Nigeria, Serena and Venus Williams want to inspire local kids to set their goals high.
“We were really able to break the mold and win a lot of Grand Slams and a lot of tournaments and not only that, but kind of change the face of tennis,” Serena said Wednesday before an exhibition match against her sister in Lagos on Friday.
“We were able to break the mold in a sport that was really dominated by white people … it doesn’t matter what your background is and where you come from. If you have dreams, if you have goals, that’s all that really matters.”
The sisters, accompanied by their mother Oracene Price, are in Nigeria’s largest city for the week.
The sisters swatted tennis balls with local children at a private club on Ikoyi Island, home to diplomats and many of the nation’s wealthy. If they have their way, the sisters will be hitting tennis balls for at least another four years, all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“It’s our main goal,” said the 31-year-old Serena, a three-time Olympic doubles gold medalist with Venus. “We were talking … about how we can’t wait to get to Rio. And obviously, bearing that we’re both healthy, that’s our goal to be there.”
Venus, who is 32, agreed: “That’s what we’ve begun preparing for.”
