Venus Williams salutes the crowd, after defeating Japan's Akiko Morigami in their Women's Singles match at Wimbledon, Monday July 2, 2007.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Best known as one half of perhaps the most dominant sibling pair in the history of sports, the seven-time Grand Slam winner always came alive on Wimbledon’s clipped grass — in more ways than one. As depicted in Ava DuVernay’s superb documentary “Venus Vs.,” Williams followed in the footsteps of Billie Jean King to lobby the iconic English tennis tournament, as well as its clay-court counterpart, the French Open, to offer equal prize money to men and women.
Part of the excellent ESPN documentary series “Nine for IX,” a women-centric spinoff of the popular “30 for 30” franchise, it’s a glimpse into the enigmatic Williams’ grit, tenacity and on-court prowess. After all, the first women’s singles champion to win the same prize money as her male counterpart was Williams herself, when she took home the trophy in 2007 after a two-year campaign.
