Few athletes are as iconic as Venus and Serena Williams.
But did you know that the tennis pros are actually two of five sisters?
That's right: Growing up, they were raised alongside three other siblings, Yetunde, Isha,
and Lyndrea Price.
So who are they?
The Price sisters
Yetunde, Isha, and Lyndrea, lost their father, Yusef Rasheed, at a young age.
In 1979, their mother, Oracene, met Richard Williams, and they were married a year later.
Richard helped raise Oracene's daughters from her prior relationship as if they were his
own.
This included being subjected to Richard's particular brand of tough love.
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, claiming they were instilled
in him by his sharecropper father.
Not normal
After watching one tennis champion take home $40,000 after a match, Richard decided to
push Venus and Serena down a path of professional sports.
He also made sure to involve the other girls.
Isha, Yetunde, and Lyndrea were often charged with keeping track of tennis balls during
practices, feeding them into the ball machine, and then picking them up.
Even with a strict 10 p.m. bedtime that was imposed until they turned 18, as well as their
lack of social lives, the kids didn't realize how odd their situation was.
Isha later said to the New York Times,
"It wasn't until I got to college that I realized that our lives weren't what other people considered
normal."
Sisterly snub
Following her defeat at the 2017 Australian Open Women's Singles final, Venus delivered
a sweet thank you speech that quickly turned awkward, thanks to her sister Isha.
"Sister Isha, where are you?
Oh dang, she didn't come?"
Following the cringe-worthy incident, Australian tennis player Rennae Stubbs clarified the
situation for a local paper, explaining that Isha wasn't trying to be rude.
She'd just gone back to her hotel room, and was watching the speech on television.
A tragic end
The family experienced tragedy on Sept. 14, 2003 when Yetunde Price, the oldest sister,
was killed by a stray bullet while in a car with her fiancé.
Price, who was just 31, was pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
Robert Maxfield, an alleged member of the Southside Crips, was unsuccessfully tried
for Price's murder two times before eventually pleading "no contest" to the lesser charge
of voluntary manslaughter.
He was sentenced in 2006 to 15 years in prison.
He was granted parole in March 2018, only to be arrested a week later for violating
the terms of his release.
Aftermath
Speaking with People in 2007, Serena admitted that the subject of her sister's death was
"still hard for [her] to talk about."
The two had been close for all her life, with the mother of three occasionally working as
an assistant to Venus and Serena.
Though Yetunde traveled around the world with her sisters, she preferred to keep away from
the spotlight.
In 2016, the sisters opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton in her honor, an
organization which aims to help families and children affected by trauma.
As Serena told the Los Angeles Times,
"It meant a lot to us [...] we've been wanting to do something for years in memory of her,
especially [considering] the way it happened, a violent crime."
Out of the shadow
Take a look at Lyndrea Price's Instagram and you'll notice that her public profile has
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.
As CEO of her own company, LP Enterprises, Lyndrea works as a brand developer, helping
new labels come to life.
Next generation
In January 2018, Serena Williams took to Instagram to pen a heartfelt note to the women in her
family, captioning a photo taken for Vogue magazine.
She wrote, "My mom raised five women (one passed) and three grandchildren.
I love this photo because we have a close bond.
This is what keeps me humble.
They are not afraid to tell me anything.
After all, I am the youngest of five."
Serena then expressed her happiness that her daughter, Alexis Olympia, whom she shares
with husband Alexis Ohanian, will grow up surrounded by strong women like Serena's mom,
sisters, and in-laws.
According to Serena, the new girl "will fit right in."