‘King Richard’: Was Venus Williams Affected By Toilet Break During Her Pro Debut in Reality?

Venus Williams is front and center of the newly-released movie ‘King Richard’. The movie depicts the lives of the Williams sisters and their father, Richard Williams. It shows how Richard left no stone unturned in his mission to train his daughters to become great tennis players.

The movie covers the entire childhood of both Serena and Venus Williams. We see Venus going from a young girl practicing with her father on a court in Compton, to finally going pro at the age of fourteen, breaking down barriers.

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Does Venus Williams regret her second professional match?

In the final act of the movie, a 14-year-old Venus Williams is playing just her second professional tennis match. She goes up against the then World No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, and takes a commanding 1-0 set lead on her Spanish opponent.

However, in the middle of the second set, Sanchez took a bathroom break, which was certainly a prolonged one. Upon her return, both the stars’ performances changed night and day. Vicario went on to win the next 11 games, defeating Venus Williams with straight games in the final set.

In an interview with USA Today, Venus Williams revisited that match and talked about how she perceives it in hindsight.

“(I recall) not knowing what I was doing. I mean, I had a huge lead. She took a bathroom break and I fell apart,” Venus recalls. The 7-time Grand Slam champion remembers regretting the result, saying “I just remember distinctly thinking- I shouldn’t be going home.”

Despite never sharing this emotion with anyone, Venus knew she could’ve gone on to the next round. However, she still learned from the match, working ever harder to improve herself and her game.

Talking about Vicario’s bathroom break, Venus admits that it was a tad too long, but also acknowledges that she should’ve stuck to her guns and not let her nerves get the best of her.

She still thinks she could have moved on to the next round, however. “- would I have won that match without the break? You can’t ever say. But probably.”

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Richard Williams predicted the result

According to the New York Times, Richard had already predicted that his daughter’s match against Vicario would be a three-set struggle. Moreover, he had even said that Venus would lose the match!

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 08: Richard Williams photographing his daughter Venus Williams (not pictured) in the Women’s Singles Final against Justine Henin of Belgium (not pictured), at The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club at Wimbledon on July 08, 2001 in London, England. (Photo by Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images)

It was nothing the family regretted, though, as her father expressed his appreciation for her performance. He was also glad that it ended Venus’ professional commitments for the year, so she could go back home and return to being a 14-year-old, something that was always Richard’s utmost concern.

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