Few athletes are as iconic and as revered as the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. The sisters have become synonymous with tennis, winning tournament after tournament, and setting unbelievable records along the way. But did you know that the tennis legends are actually two of five sisters? Growing up, Venus and Serena were raised alongside three other siblings — Yetunde, Isha, and Lyndrea Price — who actually helped them practice and achieve their lofty sports goals.
The Price women share the same mom, Oracene Price, with Venus and Serena Williams, but they have a different dad. Yetunde, Isha, and Lyndrea’s father was Yusef Rasheed, who passed away when they were kids.
The Price sisters were raised by Venus and Serena’s dad: Yetunde (a nurse), Isha (a lawyer) and Lyndrea (a singer and actress) lost their father, Yusef Rasheed, at a young age (via The Guardian). In 1979, their mother, Oracene, met Richard Williams, and they were married a year later, not long after welcoming their first daughter together, Venus. A year after that, in 1981, they had Serena, and the rest is history.
The girls were also subjected to tough love from their stepdad. According to The New York Times, Richard admitted to raising his daughters “as if they were living in the ’50s” and enforced “old-fashioned values” on them, which were instilled in him by his sharecropper father.
Their childhood wasn’t ‘normal’: Isha Price revealed to the The New York Times, her stepdad always made sure to involve her and sisters Yetunde and Lyndrea in all the hubbub. The girls were charged with handling the tennis balls for their two half-sisters, feeding them into the ball machine, and then picking them up. “It wasn’t until I got to college that I realized that our lives weren’t what other people considered normal,” Isha stated, recalling a strict 10 p.m. bedtime that was imposed until they turned 18 and their lack of friends.
Instead of hanging out with their peers, the five sisters spent most of their young lives together, sleeping in one room with just four beds. Serena, being the youngest, regularly switched bunks, but it was clear that she had a favorite, as Isha noted that young Serena “looked up to Venus so much”.
Isha snubbed Venus at the Australian Open final
Following her defeat at the 2017 Australian Open Women’s Singles final, Venus (who incidentally lost to her younger sister, Serena) delivered a sweet thank you speech that quickly turned awkward because of Isha Price. Or, rather, because of her unexpected absence.
“I’m so happy to be able to play in front of you all tonight,” she started, before thanking her team and congratulating Serena, declaring, “I’m enormously proud of you — you mean the world to me.” She then turned around and asked, “Sister Isha, where are you?”
Realizing that her other sibling wasn’t out in the audience, she gasped, “Oh dang, she didn’t come?” Yikes! As the audience laughed, she tried to recover, quipping, “I get it. It is too hard. I get it. Isha, I love you.”
Following the cringe-worthy incident, Australian tennis player Rennae Stubbs clarified the situation for a local paper, saying, “Isha went back to the hotel and she watched it on television. … She didn’t want to be around it. She said as soon as it was over she was going to be back here.”
Yetunde and Serena were super close
Speaking with People in 2007, Serena admitted that speaking about her sister Yetunde Price’s death was “still hard for [her] to talk about.” She went on to reveal just how strong their bond was, telling the outlet, “I don’t think I ever really grieved the right way … Yetunde and I were so close; she changed my diapers.”
As the magazine reported, Price was a mother of three, a nurse, the co-owner of a hair salon, and Serena and Venus’ occasional assistant. In addition to keeping track of their schedules, she also traveled with her sisters to various events, including Wimbledon, but she ultimately preferred to keep away from the spotlight. In an official statement following Yetunde’s passing, the family stated, “She was personal assistant, confidant and advisor to her sisters and her death leaves a void that can never be filled.”
Lyndrea worked hard to get out of her sisters’ shadows
Take a look at Lyndrea Price’s Instagram account and you’ll quickly notice that her feed, as well as her bio, have nothing to do with tennis. That’s because she’s worked hard to step out of her famous sisters’ shadows and build a successful career of her own in the field she’s most passionate about — fashion.
After a decade in the fashion industry, she founded LP Enterprises and began working as a brand developer, helping new labels come to life. According to her Insta bio, she’s a “fashion creative production stylist.” She has helped launch numerous brands, including LDA by Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, menswear line Beta Unit, and Ember Lynn Designs — a high-end, plus-size label.
Serena calls her sisters ‘vital’ to her life
In January 2018, Serena Williams took to Instagram to pen a heartfelt note to the women in her family, including her mom and, of course, all of the Williams sisters.
“They are so prominent strong and vital to my life,” she began, captioning a photo of herself taken for Vogue magazine, which showed the tennis legend lounging around in pajamas and cozying up to the fierce ladies in her life.
