"Venus and Serena Williams brought people into tennis who weren't there before" - Tennis journalist on Williams sisters' social impact on sport

Venus and Serena Williams have had an undeniable impact on the sporting world, ushering in an era of power-packed tennis that characterized the women’s game for a better part of the last two decades.

It is, however, their social impact that has helped cement their status as icons beyond the tennis court. Taking note of the appeal in the latest episode of the ATP Tennis Radio podcast, tennis journalist and commentator Chris Bowers said the duo managed to draw people who had never been associated with tennis before to the sport.

"Yeah, it's very important, in particular, the Williams sisters," Chris Bowers said. "They brought people into tennis who weren't there before." (at 22.43)

Recalling the early 2000s, when Venus and Serena Williams had just broken onto the tennis scene, Bowers said one could find a whole new demographic coming in to watch the US Open solely for the duo.

"I mean, I remember around 2000, you wandered around New York, rather US Open," Chris Bowers said. "And there would be people who you would not have associated with the tennis public." (at 22.50)

"I was suddenly interested and I was aware of. Wow, this is how you expand your base. You get to people who never previously thought the tennis was for them," he added. (at 22.58)

Between them, the two sisters won a total of 30 Grand Slam singles titles, with Serena winning 23 by herself. Together, they paired up to win 14 women's doubles majors.

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Chris Bowers equates Venus and Serena Williams to other tennis greats

Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams at the 2015 French Open.

Chris Bowers went on to liken Venus and Serena Williams’ appeal to other tennis greats like American Althea Gibson and Aussie Arthur Ashe, saying they also exposed a complete section of the public to the sport.

"And I look back to someone like Althea Gibson in the 50s and Arthur Ashe in the 70s, neither of whom I would say, would be, you know, cadenders for the greatest of all time, but they were just what they achieved, you know, it In the social context of what tennis was was phenomenal," Chris Bowers said. (at 23.10)

Bowers, however, was quick to add that Venus and Serena Williams took it a lot further than any of the others who came before them. The tennis journalist also cited the example of Martina Navratilova and credited her for helping homosexuality find more acceptability.

"And therefore, the Williams sisters took it a lot further," Chris Bowers said. "I think, Martina Navratilova, a big part of her appeal was well, part of it was that she defected from the Soviet block at a time when the Cold War was in the consciousness of most people in the developed world." (at 23.20)

"Certainly the tennis, and the other thing is that she was very open about her sexual orientation, which I think helped push the acceptability of homosexuality at a time when it was still struggling for acceptance," he added. (at 23.30)