3 fathers who played a major role in making their daughters tennis superstars ft. Venus & Serena Williams' dad Richard

The term 'tennis parents' is a common part of the tennis parlance and stands synonymous with certain significant names within the overall tennis fraternity. Similarly, they derive their significance from their contribution to the success of some of the best tennis talents in the world.

Owing to the contribution made by the parents of certain tennis players, we now see players' names etched in tennis history along with their 'tennis parents' who made it possible.

Similarly, from Monica Seles to Maria Sharapova, many tennis players rever and owe their success to their fathers, who not only set their foundation for the game but also supported them till the very last match of their careers.

With that said, here are a few tennis fathers who played an instrumental role in some of the biggest tennis players' careers.

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#3 Corey Gauff

World No.3 Coco Gauff represents one of the best tennis talents of the current generation and one of the most significant contributors to her success are her parents, Corey and Candi Gauff. Her father particularly worked with Gauff on the court as a primary coach and helped set the foundation for the US Open Champion.

Coco Gauff (centre) with her parents

In addition to training and supporting her, the 20-year-old revealed that her father has developed superstitions since her US Open victory and prefers to move around the stands in the stadium rather than sit in the player box.

Gauff even credited the said victory to her father. Speaking about the same after defeating Aryna Sabalenka to clinch her first Grand Slam title, she said (via India Today):

“He was the first person I saw. That was the first time I saw my dad cry. At the French Open, he claims he wasn’t crying. But today, I saw it.. I rarely see my mom cry either.. That moment. I’ll never forget that ever. I’m so happy.

She added, "That man has supported me through so much. People always tried to tear us apart, saying he didn’t need to be in my box or he didn’t need to coach me anymore. Little do they know, he’s the reason I won this match."

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#2 Yuri Sharapov

Former World No.1 Maria Sharapova has won five Grand Slams, two French Opens and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Additionally, she also won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012, eight years before she announced her retirement.

However, the Russian attributes a great part of her success to her father, Yuri Sharapov. Recognizing his seven-year-old daughter's talent in the sport, he left a perfectly well-settled life in Russia and moved to the United States to help a young Sharapova achieve her true potential and receive the best training.

Maria Sharapova (left) and her father after the Wimbledon Championships in 2004

Yuri was the Russian's first coach as the father-daughter duo could not afford to hire anyone else due to financial constraints. According to Sharapova, her father's understanding of the game helped him to hone her skills in the best possible manner.

Speaking about the same on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd podcast, the former World No.1 said (at 46:00):

"It's always complicated when dad's involved. So my father was my coach from the very beginning for one reason, because we didn't have money for another option. So the longer he was my coach, the more he knew about me and my game and knew what was best for me. "

Similarly, one of the most endearing moments in the history of tennis includes a 17-year-old Sharapova embracing her father after winning her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004, where she defeated Serena Williams.

After defeating Williams, Sharapova ran up the stands to hug her father and speaking about the same after the match, she said (via New York Times):

''All that has happened in my life, all the tough moments we've been through, all the good moments...This is what I wanted to achieve all my life, and it happened. That's the person I wanted to share it with.''

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#1 Richard Williams

Serena Williams and Venus Williams exemplify the zenith of success that one can achieve in tennis, and their achievements are considered to be synonymous with their father's name, Richard Williams.

The former American tennis coach not only mentored two of the biggest tennis players of the Open Era from a very young age but also led them to a combined total of 30 Grand Slams - 22 won by Serena and seven by Venus.

Richard Williams at Wimbledon 2010

Richard Williams was a common presence at the numerous matches played by his daughters and was credited with their success by everyone. A movie sharing the details of their journey was also released and went on to win a range of accolades in addition to heaps of praises that were showered on the father-daughter trio.

The intricacies of the film tried to share Williams' side of the story and how he was different from other tennis parents. Speaking about the same, American screenwriter Zach Baylin said (via Vanity Fair):

“In the ’90s and the early 2000s, when he was much more forward-facing, Richard was a very controversial and contentious figure in the tennis world. He really saw his job as their coach being not just about what was happening on the court, but about being their hype man. At the time, I think people saw that somewhat contentiously."

He added, "But what was brilliant was he knew that without the resources [to fund Venus and Serena’s tennis training], he was going to have to build up this aura and myth around them to get people to invest in them.… I think the outward impression was that that bombastic-ness and that contentiousness would’ve been there in the family as well. But it was really the opposite. He was an extremely soft and encouraging father and coach.”

Both Serena and Venus have held a career-high ranking of World No.1 and have consistently been a part of the list of the world's highest-paid female athletes.