"It's what we dreamt about growing up, it's the most exciting thing in the world"- Venus Williams on her rivalry with Serena Williams

Venus Williams recently spoke to Harley Finkelstein, the president of e-commerce company Shopify, about the significance of mental training in her career, the key life lessons she learnt over the years and her iconic rivalry with sister Serena.

Williams highlighted how competing against each other on some of the biggest stages in tennis was a childhood dream for both her and Serena. She described it as the "most exciting thing in the world" before pointing out how a sibling rivalry such as theirs isn't a common spectacle in sports.

"Yeah, it's a dream come true," Venus Williams said. "It's a dream. It's what we dreamt about growing up. I think a lot of people think 'oh wow what's it like to play your sister' and I'm like 'yeah it's awesome'. I'd love to see her get there. I love to get there, it's just the most exciting thing in the world. I don't think it happens that often in sports too so I've done it quite a lot.", she said

The 41-year-old further talked about the impact her parents' teachings had on her life and some of the life lessons she imbibed as a sportsperson. She pointed out her parents instilled "unwavering values" into her and her sister growing up.

"Mom and dad - they had unwavering values for us that we had to take on as our own," Williams said. "I'm so excited to say I am just like my mom and dad, the transformation is complete, the upload is finished, I am them."

She added that sport has allowed her to adopt a sense of focus in life which eventually helped build her confidence.

"But also sport. When you're focusing on what you can do and what you'd accomplish, you get a good dose of failure sometimes too but it actually builds confidence. When you're doing positive things, it helps you to know that hey 'I can do more of this," she added.

Venus Williams won Wimbledon 2000 at the age of 20

Venus Williams proceeded to highlight the importance of mental training in one's life. She emphasized that the mind can be trained to handle stressful situations and that it's something that began at an early age for her. She revealed that the mental training she received from her parents has helped her remain steadfast during crunch moments in court.

"Life's beautiful but it can be very hard and so how do you handle it? Some people cannot because they have not had that mental training and that starts at an early age," she said. "Let's say you didn't get that - then it's something that you can be intentional about and train yourself for."

"Also, before you get to these situations think about how you want to handle it mentally. That's something I do on the court too. Mental strength is something that you can acquire so I would say work on it. My mother was always a very strong component of that, my dad was too of my mental training. So I had that growing up which is very interesting," she added.

"I sing, my whole family does karaoke so I travel with a karaoke mic" - Venus Williams

When asked how she unwinds during her hectic schedule on tour, the seven-time Grand Slam champion revealed she has a knack for singing. She said she and her family are fond of karaoke, hence she always travels with a karaoke mic. She added that she has a liking for 80s and 90s pop music and specializes in the 'Grunge' genre of music.

"I sing, my whole family does karaoke so I travel with a karaoke mic" Venus Williams revealed. "I also used that during the pandemic to have a nice sing for a couple hours in the evening. It was very rejuvenating. I do not listen to pop, but I do like pop from the 80s and the 90s but I specialize strangely in 80s wave and grunge."