Venus Williams wrote an essay for The Players’ Tribune that is basically the best sister tribute ever.
In the essay, Venus talked about the role of the “big sister;” she had to experience everything first, like driving or staying home alone or becoming a pro tennis player.
“Being the big sister meant that, when my little sister made her professional debut, I became a lot of new things to her — her colleague, her competitor, her business partner, her doubles partner,” she wrote.
“But I was still, first and foremost, the one thing I had always been: her family. I was her protector — her first line of defense against outside forces. And I cherished that.”
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She also talked about how that bond of sisterhood pushed her to return to Indian Wells after a 15-year boycott when her sister made her return last year.
“It was in that moment, seeing Serena welcomed with open arms last year at Indian Wells, that I think I fully and truly realized what being the big sister means,” she wrote. “It means that, for all of the things I did first, and all of the times when I paved the way for Serena, the thing I can be most proud of is this time. When Serena paved the way for me.”
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