Oracene Price: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
Article Images
Line 1:
{{short description|American tennis coach (born 1952)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
Line 15:
| [[Williams sisters|List of titles]]
}}
| CoachingRecords = [[Venus Williams#Records and achievements]]<br />[[Serena Williams#Other records and achievementsRecords]]
}}
'''Oracene Price''' (born April 3, 1952) is an American [[tennis]] coach. She is best known for being both the mother and coach of [[Venus Williams|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 (tennis coach)|Richard Williams]], whom she divorced in 2002.
== Biography ==
Line 24:
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.<ref>Wertheim{{clarify|date=March 2009}}</ref><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_7_58/ai_100544509 Serena and Venus on the fabulous Oracene, mother of the Williams Dynasty] Retrieved March 11, 2009.</ref>
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."<ref>{{cite news|date=June 26, 2003|access-date=March 11, 2009|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E2DB113BF935A15755C0A9659C8B63|title=Theories About Paris From Serena's Mother|author=George Vecsey|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> 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)."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070209054451/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_wertheim/02/06/mailbag/index.html SI.com Tennis Mailbag- The Ultimate Battle]</ref>
Price describes herself as a deeply spiritual woman.<ref name=DN>{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/Living/-/1218/494902/-/228hdq/-/index.html|title=The mother behind the Williams' sisters|work=Daily Nation|date=November 25, 2008|access-date=July 9, 2016}}</ref> Price also has described herself as being a "rampant [[Feminism|feminist]]" when dealing with the overly sexualized images of women in the media.<ref>{{cite book|author=Fein, Paul|title=You Can Quote Me on That: Greatest Tennis Quips, Insights And Zingers|publisher=Potomac Books |location=Washington|year=2005|page=80|isbn=1-57488-925-7}}</ref>
She has traveled to AfricaKenya with her daughter Serena for charity work, includingas well as Senegal to aid in the construction of schools in Senegal.<ref name=DN />
Price was portrayed by [[Aunjanue Ellis]] in the 2021 biopic ''[[King Richard (film)|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 ==
Price's coaching has arguably been overshadowed by her role as mother, but as a coach she has been called underappreciated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tennisworld.typepad.com/string_theory/miami_2008/page/2/|title=TENNIS.com – Blogs – String Theory by Tom Perrotta|year=2008|page=2}}</ref> 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 Williams, in keeping her daughters focused and disciplined, for helping to build a solid foundation of self-esteem and outside interests for her daughters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tennisworld.typepad.com/thewrap/2007_entries/|title=TENNIS.com – Blogs – Concrete Elbow by Steve Tignor|access-date=March 11, 2009}}</ref>
Venus and Serena's "poise under pressure"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/french/2014/05/19/serena-williams-tennis-usta-pressure-title/9305391/|title=Serena Williams poised despite mounting pressure|date=May 19, 2014|access-date=August 30, 2015|work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> 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?"<ref>{{cite news|access-date=March 12, 2009 |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/features/williams/flashback/daddy |title=Who's Your Daddy? |agency=CNN |work=Sports Illustrated |author=S. L. Price |date=May 31, 1999 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629122324/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/features/williams/flashback/daddy/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.nickbollettieri.com/aboutNick/article.cfm?artID=626 "Bollettieri had a hand in grooming 10 players who hit No. 1"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714181155/http://www.nickbollettieri.com/aboutNick/article.cfm?artID=626 |date=July 14, 2011 }}. Retrieved March 11, 2009.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://sportswww.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen08/columns/story?columnist=ford_bonnie_d&id=3556008|title=Williams sisters' parents deserve accolades for job well-done|work=ESPN|access-date=March 11, 2009|date=August 27, 2008}}</ref>
== References ==
Line 55:
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan]]
[[Category:American tennisTennis coaches from Michigan]]
[[Category:Western Michigan University alumni]]
[[Category:Williams family (tennis)]]
[[Category:African-American tennis coaches]]