Venus has shared a loving photo with her father, Richard Williams, despite him rarely being seen with his famous daughters after skipping out on Serena’s 2017 wedding to Alexis Ohanian.
On Monday, Venus shared the sweet snap of her and her father hugging while on a Palm Beach Gardens tennis court in Florida.
In the caption of the Instagram post, Venus wrote: ‘My last practice before China. Dad, the OG came out, he always comes out. I know you all don’t get to see him on tour as much anymore, but he never misses a home practice.’
Venus shared the photo just days before she competes at the Wuhan Open in China. She will then head to the China Open at the end of the month.
Richard, who is rarely pictured with his daughters, was last seen in March 2018 with Venus during a practice. That particular photo was the first picture of Richard with one of the daughters since Serena married Ohanian in November 2017.
Venus has shared a loving photo with her father, Richard Williams, despite him rarely being seen with his famous daughters after skipping out on Serena’s 2017 wedding to Alexis Ohanian
Richard, who is rarely pictured with the daughters, was last seen in March 2018 (left) with Venus during a practice. That particular photo was the first picture of Richard (right, with Serena in 2012) with one of the daughters since Serena married Ohanian in November 2017
Just an hour before Serena married Ohanian, she received a text from Richard saying that he could not attend the wedding. Serena then had to walk herself down the aisle (above)
The tennis star did not get mad but instead comforted her father, who was going through medical and personal problems at the time (Serena and Alexis Ohanian at their ceremony above)
Just an hour before Serena married Ohanian, she received a text from Richard saying that he could not attend the wedding, according to HBO docuseries, Being Serena, which aired in May 2018.
Alexandra Macon, who covered the wedding for Vogue, wrote on Vogue.com: ‘Unbeknownst to me at the time, her father and longtime coach, Richard, texted her an hour before the wedding was supposed to start, saying that he didn’t feel comfortable walking her down the aisle.’
Despite the disappointing news, Serena was calm and collected when retelling the story of what happened for the HBO series.
‘He was in New Orleans, he had a suit, and I know he was really excited,’ she explained at the time.
‘But then he wrote me and said: “Serena, I don’t want you to be mad at me, but I just can’t walk you down the aisle. I’m not myself anymore. I’m just too nervous”.’
In that moment Serena did not get angry at her father or start feeling sad for herself, choosing instead to comfort the man.
‘Daddy, it’s okay, if you don’t want to come to the wedding at all, that’s okay too. I’m not going to be upset with you about it, so I don’t want you to be upset about it,’ responded Serena.
She then offered viewers a rare look inside her mind as she broke down her thought process in that moment.
At the time, Serena said: ‘Our family knows what we have. We just want each other to be happy. That’s what matters. I don’t think anything could ever change that’
Just days after the wedding, Richard filed a cyber stalking/stalking violence protective order against Lakeisha Williams, his 38-year-old estranged wife (pair above in 2011 at the US Open)
‘Maybe a lot of daughters wouldn’t react the same way, but I know the struggles he’s had these last few years. His health is better now, but I know he still doesn’t feel like himself, doesn’t feel like he’s perfect,’ said Serena.
‘And if he doesn’t want to be up there in front of a lot of people, I completely understand. Look, when we first came on the scene, there were a lot of people who didn’t get him. I don’t think a lot of them wanted to get him. I don’t think a lot of him could have anyway.’
She then added: ‘Our family knows what we have. We just want each other to be happy. That’s what matters. I don’t think anything could ever change that.’
At the time, DailyMail.com noted that Richard was nowhere to be seen at the wedding, and the fact that he was going through a contentious split from his wife.
Just days after the wedding, Richard filed a cyber stalking/stalking violence protective order against Lakeisha Williams, his 38-year-old estranged wife.
Richard introduced his daughters to tennis and still serves as part of their coaching staff.