Richard Williams can’t stay away from tennis, despite reportedly being in poor health. In 2016, he suffered two strokes, which it was later revealed had a major impact on his day-to-day life.
As Richard’s divorce proceedings with Lakeisha Williams grew nastier in 2020, his doctor told a court, per The Sun, that he suffered damage to his brain tissue and “the complications after the stroke included inability to remember things,” as well as weakened muscles and “problems speaking and finding the right word to use.”
While the doctor conceded that Richard eventually “recovered from problems forming your words,” they stressed that their patient had not “recovered from what is called dementia.”
Despite these serious issues, it seems Richard isn’t able to resist coaching his daughters. In July 2021, Venus Williams posted a video to Instagram showing her practicing on a court with her dad standing by her, giving advice.
As one Twitter user commented, “The coaching legend is still at it” and Venus confirmed just that herself when she responded to a comment praising Richard for being “still at it 30+ years later” by writing “Every practice!” She also responded to a second fan who wrote, “Love that he still trains with Vee” with a simple “Always!”
Just don’t expect him to go easy on his girls. When a reporter asked about Serena’s chances of winning Wimbledon back in 2012, Richard said they “were great,” but couldn’t resist adding, “I think she needs to make a few minor adjustments.”
Richard Williams couldn’t be prouder of his superstar daughters
Unsurprisingly, Serena and Venus Williams’ dad is a big fan of his legendary kids. “He always tells me I’m so good and he’s so proud of me and he can’t imagine how good I am,” Serena once said of Richard Williams (via NBC Sports), adding, “He always says, ‘Don’t put pressure on yourself. Be happy with what you have.'”
That’s exactly what he did before Wimbledon 2012. Serena had been incapacitated for nearly 12 months before returning to the sport in mid-2011. In July 2010, she cut a tendon in her right foot in a freak accident after stepping on broken glass, per USA Today.
In March 2011, she was, as she told The Guardian, “on my deathbed at one point — quite literally” after doctors found “several blood clots in both lungs.”
Then, “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,” Richard recalled in his 2014 biography, “Black and White: The Way I See It.” And so, he felt anxious about Wimbledon and told her “to forget about winning the tournament or losing the tournament.”
Instead, he joked, “You go out there and you put your best foot forward. Not the one you cut up — put the other foot forward.” Serena won and Richard felt “pride beyond measure” as “tears coursed freely down my cheeks and I didn’t care who saw them.” There’s a lot of love in the Williams family — and no, we don’t mean a goose egg.
