Davis Bart - Black and white: the way I see it

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Copyright 2014 by Richard Williams

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First Atria Books hardcover edition May 2014

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Interior design by Jill Putorti

Jacket design by Min Choi

Jacket photographs by Getty Images except middle photo on left by Alese O. Pechter

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4767-0420-3

ISBN 978-1-4767-0422-7 (ebook)

All insert photographs courtesy of the Williams family except where noted.

Epigraph on p. vii from I, Too from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES by Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad with David Roessel, Associate Editor, copyright 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

For Julia Metcalf Williams, my greatest hero

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

LANGSTON HUGHES

W imbledon is a special place for me. Its the tennis tournament where my daughters, Venus and Serena, have won the Ladies Singles Championship ten years out of the past twelve. Yet, on that rainy Saturday morning in August 2012, anxiously looking down from our family box while Serena played her finals match on center court, I couldnt help thinking that we almost didnt make it here at all.

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, first played in 1877. It is the grandest of the four Grand Slamsincluding the French Open, the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open. Its the only one still played on grass, the games first surface, the reason it was originally called lawn tennis. Yet, with the terrible illnesses and foot problems Serena suffered in the past year, I never dreamed Id be watching her compete here for the championshipin fact I feared I might never see her play again.

During those dark days of her illness, there was actually a time I feared Serena was going to die. The doctors said they could not rule that possibility out. She had blood clots in her heart that could be fatal. I didnt know what to think or what to do. Then, hope grew, but just as Serena started to recover, she got an infection in her stomach and had to have a drain tube put in to help her heal. This was after two surgeries on her foot and toe.

My children have been the center of my life since they were born, so I was beside myself with pain and fear. I never thought about tennis during those gloomy days. I just wanted my little girl to live. When you see someone you love more than anything in the world so close to death, especially your child, youd willingly die to save her. All during the first matches of the tournament, it was unbelievable to me that we were here. Serena felt it, too. A few times before her early matches, she became a little shaky and nervous and I had to remind her of her confidence and about being a champion. I wrote a poem to her.

Step forward so you can see

the light of day and know

you are capable of

conquering fear, defeating feelings of inadequacy,

and rising above lifes circumstances.

One who is able to prevail

is a shining example of

power, strength, and confidence.

Its just a matter of faith.

I wanted Serena to understand that where she came from was great, where she was going would be terrific, but right now she should be elated just that she was here. I told her to forget about winning the tournament or losing the tournament.

You go out there and you put your best foot forward, I told her. Not the one you cut upput the other foot forward. It made her laugh.

When Serena won the semifinal, I felt sure she would win the tournament. I didnt think anything could stop her now. Others were not so sure. I was walking the grounds before a tough match when a man said to me, Your daughter could lose this next one, you know.

I said happily, No, its impossible. She cant lose.

But its such a tight match.

I waved that away. That doesnt matter. Its impossible.

I knew he thought I meant losing the match was impossible. I didnt mean that at all. Serena couldnt lose a thing because just her being alive and here at all was a miracle. Everything else was small by comparison, immaterial. When Serena played Zheng Jie in the third round and the girl gave her such a hard time, I yelled out to Serena on the court, Serena, relax and beat her like you did your sickness.

She looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes and went on to beat that girl.

When Serena got to the finals, she had such an easy victory in the first set I thought there was nothing to worry about. Thats unusual. Im like any other parent. I always worry. Even after all these years, its terribly hard for me to watch my daughters play a match. But this one was going well. The first set was a blowout, 61. Then Serena faltered in the second and began making errors. Little by little, the set got away from her. She made small mistakesa blown volley, a double fault, a down-the-line forehand long, and suddenly Agnieszka Radwaska broke her and evened the match at one set apiece.

I hate rain delays, but this one gave me an opportunity to go talk to Serena. Venus went with me. There is a special champions area in the locker room but I couldnt go back there, so Serena came out. We all stood in the lobby near the polished wood staircase that leads up to the balcony where the champions greet the crowd after theyve won. It didnt matter that there were tournament officials and members all around us, and thousands of fans outside.

Serena, play her the same way I would play her, and youll beat her, Venus told Serena.

Serena listens to Venus before she listens to anyone. Venus is not only her older sister, shes the assistant coach, maybe the whole coach. Venus meant play her all out. Use your serve. Use your power. Think of yourself as a winner. Venus uses her big serve to pull her opponent wide and then blows her off the court with three or four strokes. She gave Serena a final hug and whispered, Theres nothing in the world that can stop you now.

That left just my daughter and me. Inside, I believed this Wimbledon final was going to be her greatest victory. I felt it with a sureness I could not explain. I got close to Serena and said, You know you are a champion, and you know you can win. The three other girls you played before her, they couldnt beat you, and youre not gonna beat yourself here. Youre representing life at this time, and its your life. You know youre the best. Now, you go back out there and play to celebrate what life has given you.