London, Sept 16: For a woman who was to break the mould of women's tennis it was somehow appropriate that Venus Williams began playing tennis on the public courts in Compton.
Far from the country clubs and tennis academies where most young Americans developed their skills, the Los Angeles suburb was a tough place to grow up. One of the many nicknames her father and coach, Richard, gave to Venus was ''the Ghetto Cinderella.''
Venus and her younger sister Serena, whose power and personalities have lit up women's tennis, now live in beautiful Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Richard's tales of drive-by shootings and gang warfare interrupting his children's tennis lessons were a fading memory until early on Sunday when Compton came back to haunt the Williams family.

Yetunde Price, the eldest daughter of five, was shot dead in Compton after an altercation. A 24-year-old man, Aaron Michael Hammer, has been arrested and will face a first-degree murder charge at his arraignment, expected today.



Yetunde, 31 and a mother of three, worked as a personal assistant to 23-year-old Venus and 21-year-old Serena, for whom family was all-important.



The two youngest sisters have played each other in six finals of grand slam events -- the big tournaments of tennis.



Every time the Williams family -- led by mother Oracene, now divorced from Richard -- was out in force to watch and at Wimbledon the two women take a house together every year to keep the family vibe going.



Richard says he decided to put his daughters on the tennis stage when he watched a women's match on the television more than 20 years ago and was amazed at how much the players earned.


Bureau Report