Oracene Price - Wikipedia

American tennis coach (born 1952) Oracene Price

Price with two of her daughters, 2001
Born	(1952-04-03) April 3, 1952 (age 73)Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Coaching career (1994–2003)
Venus Williams, Serena Williams
Coaching achievements
Coachee singles titles total	49 (V) – 72 (S) (121 titles)
Coachee doubles titles total	21 (S-V) – 2 (V) – 5 (S) (28 titles)
List of notable tournaments(with champion) Career Golden Slam – Singles (Serena)7x Australian Open (Serena)3x French Open (Serena)12x Wimbledon (Williams sisters)8x US Open (Williams sisters)2x Olympic gold medal (Williams sisters)6x WTA Tour Championships (Williams sisters)28x WTA Tier I/Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 (Williams sisters)Career Golden Slam – Doubles (Williams sisters)4x Australian Open (Williams sisters)2x French Open (Williams sisters)6x Wimbledon (Williams sisters)2x US Open (Williams sisters)3x Olympic gold medalFed Cup champions (Williams sisters)2x Hopman Cup (Serena) List of titles
Coaching awards and records
Records Venus Williams § Records and achievements Serena Williams § Other records and achievements

Oracene Price (born April 3, 1952) is an American tennis coach. She is best known for being both the mother and coach of Venus and Serena Williams, both of whom are widely regarded as among the best tennis players of all time. She is the former wife of Richard Williams, whom she divorced in 2002.

Biography

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Nicknamed "Brandy", Price was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1952. Her father was an automotive worker from the Mississippi Delta.[1] She graduated from Buena Vista High School in 1970 and from Western Michigan University.[1][2] She has three daughters from a previous marriage to Yusef Rasheed: Yetunde Price (1972–2003),[3] who was a former beauty salon owner and registered nurse; Lyndrea Price, a Web designer; and Isha Price, a lawyer. After Rasheed's death, while working as a nurse, Oracene married Richard Williams and had two more daughters, Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Both Venus and Serena are high-ranked professional tennis players who have won numerous Grand Slam tournaments. She helped her husband as he began coaching Venus and Serena in tennis. The Williams family moved to Florida on the offer of Rick Macci to coach their daughters for free.[4][5]

By the end of 2000, Price was no longer living with her husband Richard Williams, and citing irreconcilable differences, they divorced in 2002. She reverted to her maiden name of Price.[6][7]

During a semifinal match between Serena and Justine Henin at the 2003 French Open, Williams was booed by fans after a complaint about a line call. Price believes that the boos were motivated by race, saying, "We, as black people, live with this all the time. It's all about control."[8] Tennis journalist and author L. Jon Wertheim has said of Price, "You have to respect anyone incapable of gloss or spin (i.e., unwilling to lie)."[9]

Price describes herself as a deeply spiritual woman.[10] Price also has described herself as being a "rampant feminist" when dealing with the overly sexualized images of women in the media.[11]

She traveled to Kenya with her daughter Serena for charity work, as well as Senegal to aid in the construction of schools.[10]

Price was portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis in the 2021 biopic King Richard. Ellis was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance while the film itself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Coaching

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Price's coaching has arguably been overshadowed by her role as mother, but as a coach she has been called underappreciated.[12] Price is not a coach in a traditional sense (though she did learn tennis herself to help teach her daughters the technical aspects of the game) and is instead credited, along with Richard for helping to build a solid foundation of self-esteem and outside interests for her daughters.[13]

Venus and Serena's "poise under pressure"[14] is often credited to the self-belief instilled in them by their mother. "There's no such thing as pressure," says Price. "As black Americans, that's all we've ever had. It's life. So where's the pressure?"[15] This approach was coupled with, according to noted tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, a respect that meant that neither Price nor Richard Williams raised their voices to their daughters.[16] Journalist Bonnie D. Ford has said that the longevity exhibited by the Williams sisters is directly attributable to their parents and the way that Richard Williams and Price have helped them manage their careers and lives. Ford believes it is especially admirable that Price and her former husband have continued to remain jointly supportive despite their separation.[17]

References

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1. ^ a b Edmondson, Jacqueline (2005). Venus and Serena Williams : a biography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-33165-0. OCLC 58831607.
2. ^ "Poll: Do you expect Venus and Serena Williams to return to Saginaw to support the Urban Youth Tennis Foundation?". MLive.com. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
3. ^ "Arrest in killing of tennis stars' half-sister". CNN. January 18, 2004. Archived from the original on February 23, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
4. ^ Edmonson[clarification needed]
5. ^ Donaldson[clarification needed]
6. ^ Wertheim[clarification needed]
7. ^ Serena and Venus on the fabulous Oracene, mother of the Williams Dynasty Retrieved March 11, 2009.
8. ^ George Vecsey (June 26, 2003). "Theories About Paris From Serena's Mother". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
9. ^ SI.com Tennis Mailbag- The Ultimate Battle
10. ^ a b "The mother behind the Williams' sisters". Daily Nation. November 25, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
11. ^ Fein, Paul (2005). You Can Quote Me on That: Greatest Tennis Quips, Insights And Zingers. Washington: Potomac Books. p. 80. ISBN 1-57488-925-7.
12. ^ "TENNIS.com – Blogs – String Theory by Tom Perrotta". 2008. p. 2.
13. ^ "TENNIS.com – Blogs – Concrete Elbow by Steve Tignor". Retrieved March 11, 2009.
14. ^ "Serena Williams poised despite mounting pressure". USA Today. May 19, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
15. ^ S. L. Price (May 31, 1999). "Who's Your Daddy?". Sports Illustrated. CNN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
16. ^ "Bollettieri had a hand in grooming 10 players who hit No. 1" Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
17. ^ "Williams sisters' parents deserve accolades for job well-done". ESPN. August 27, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2009.

Further reading

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• Bradley, Michael (2003). Venus Williams. Michael Cavendish Publishing. ISBN 0-7614-1630-7.[clarification needed]
• Donaldson, Madeline (2003). Venus & Serena Williams. Minneapolis, MN: LernerSports. ISBN 0-8225-3316-2.
• Edmondson, Jacqueline (2005). Venus and Serena Williams: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-33165-0.
• Fein, Paul (2005). You Can Quote Me on That: Greatest Tennis Quips, Insights and Zingers. Washington: Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-925-7.
• Wertheim, L. Jon (2001). Venus Envy: A Sensational Season Inside the Women's Tennis Tour. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-019774-9.

v t e Serena Williams
Entourage	Oracene Price (mother/coach, 1994–2022) Richard Williams (father/coach, 1994–2022) Venus Williams (sister/doubles partner, 1997-2022) Patrick Mouratoglou (coach, 2012-2022) Sascha Bajin (hitting partner, 2008-2015)
Career	Achievements Statistics World No. 1 ranking United States Fed Cup team Williams sisters
Rivalries	Rivalry with Justine Henin Rivalry with Martina Hingis Rivalry with Venus Williams
Seasons	Early career 1999 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Australian Open titles	Singles 2003 2005 2007 2009 2010 2015 2017 Doubles 2001 2003 2009 2010 Mixed Doubles None
French Open titles	Singles 2002 2013 2015 Doubles 1999 2010 Mixed Doubles None
Wimbledon titles	Singles 2002 2003 2009 2010 2012 2015 2016 Doubles 2000 2002 2008 2009 2012 2016 Mixed Doubles 1998
US Open titles	Singles 1999 2002 2008 2012 2013 2014 Doubles 1999 2009 Mixed Doubles 1998
Olympics Gold	Singles 2012 Doubles 2000 2008 2012 Mixed Doubles None
Fed Cup titles	1999
Notable matches	2018 US Open final

v t e Venus Williams
73 WTA Titles: 49 SGL, 22 DBL & 2 MX
Entourage	Eric Hechtman (current coach; 2019—present) Oracene Price (mother & coach) Richard Williams (father & coach) Serena Williams (sister & title-winning doubles partner) David Witt (former coach; 2007–2018) Title-winning/medal-winning mixed doubles partners Justin Gimelstob Rajeev Ram
Career	Statistics World No. 1 (singles & doubles) United States BJK Cup team United States Hopman Cup team Williams sisters
Rivalries	Rivalry with Serena Williams
Year-end No.1	Nil
Grand Slam titles	Australian Open DBL with Serena Williams 2001 2003 2009 2010 MX with Justin Gimelstob 1998 French Open DBL with Serena Williams 1999 2010 MX with Justin Gimelstob 1998 Wimbledon SGL 2000 2001 2005 2007 2008 DBL with Serena Williams 2000 2002 2008 2009 2012 2016 US Open SGL 2000 2001 DBL with Serena Williams 1999 2009
ITF titles	Grand Slam Cup SGL 1998 Munich
WTA Tour titles	WTA Finals SGL 2008 Doha WTA 1000 &analogues Qatar ↔ Dubai Open SGL 2009 (D) 2010 (D) Indian Wells Open Nil Miami Open SGL 1998 1999 2001 Charleston & Berlin Open → Madrid Open SGL 2004 (C) DBL with Serena Williams 2010 (M) Italian Open SGL 1999 Canadian Open Nil San Diego → Cincinnati Open Nil Tokyo → Wuhan Open SGL 2015 (W) Zurich & Moscow Open→ → China Open SGL 1999 (Z) DBL with Serena Williams 1998 (Z) WTA Elite Trophy SGL 2015 Zhuhai WTA 500 SGL 1999 Hamburg 1999 New Haven 2000 Stanford 2000 San Diego 2000 New Haven 2001 Hamburg 2001 San Diego 2002 Paris 2002 Antwerp 2002 Amelia Island 2002 Stanford 2002 San Diego 2002 New Haven 2003 Antwerp 2004 Warsaw 2008 Zurich 2014 Dubai DBL with Serena Williams 1999 Hanover 2009 Stanford WTP 250 SGL 1998 Oklahoma 1999 Oklahoma 2002 Gold Coast 2005 Istanbul 2007 Memphis 2007 Seoul 2009 Acapulco 2010 Acapulco 2012 Luxembourg 2015 Auckland 2016 Kaohsiung DBL with Serena Williams 1998 Oklahoma
National representation	Olympics SGL Gold at 2000 Sydney DBL with Serena Williams Gold at 2000 Sydney Gold at 2008 Beijing Gold at 2012 London MX with Rajeev Ram Silver at 2016 Rio de Janeiro BJK Cup 1999 Hopman Cup Nil
Surface —  Hard  Clay Grass Carpet Category: SGL (Singles), DBL (Doubles), MX (Mixed Doubles)Venus Williams Official Website Tennis portal