Richard - the master planner

HIS MOTHER was a cotton picker and he hardly knew his father. His daughters, Venus and Serena, are now among the most famous athletes on earth - and it's all down to planning, according to Richard Williams.

Williams decided his daughters would be tennis professionals when he saw Virginia Ruzici playing on television more than 20 years ago and was staggered to hear she had just earned $40,000. The problem was none of his three daughters showed any aptitude for tennis. So that was when the planning started.

``I went to my wife the next day and said `we need to make two more kids','' says Williams, 59.

``There was a plan from two years before Venus was actually born as to how I would raise my kids with the help of my wife - their education, their food and most of all their tennis.``I am the master planner, no one is going to outplan me.''

Richard has been as visible as ever at Wimbledon this year a one- man support staff for Venus and Serena who has spent his time photographing his girls, filming the crowd and interviewing anybody famous that turns up to watch.

In London he also launched a documentary, to be shown later this month on British television, after he gave producer Terry Jervis unprecedented access to his family.

Richard, and his daughters, are controversial figures on the tennis circuit. He has not been slow to voice his opinion on several subjects, including racism.

But watching the documentary and listening to Richard reveal a man who really doesn't care what other people think - it's the family that matters.

He began his business career by following his mother into the cotton fields and secretly using his boss's trailer to transport the cotton he stole every night.

His father had ``lots of girlfriends'' and he faced the brutalities of racism many times, ``Mama taught me I was not a bigger, `You're just a man','' Williams said.

He made money in property but his - and Oracene's - life was turned upside down once he decided to put his girls on the tennis stage.

He figured it was a ``waste of time'' to try his masterplan on Lyndree, Isha and Yetunde so he had to wait for Venus, now 21, and Serena, 19, to come along.

Richard knew Venus had what he was looking for the first time he threw a tennis ball at her to hit, aged 4-1/2. But after one week's practice he stopped ``because she enjoyed it too much and it stopped her reading''.

The story of Venus and Serena playing on public courts in the Compton suburb of Los Angeles and having to dodge gunfire is well-known. Less well-known is that Richard deliberately moved into the area to teach the girls a valuable lesson.

``I didn't want to bypass the problems I had,'' said Richard. ``I wanted to live in the worst ghetto in the world so that they could see all the bad that can happen to you if you don't get an education.''

His training methods are unconventional, as you would expect. The sisters use a baseball bat to hit tennis balls as ``swing and precision training'' and box to get into shape and improve their feet movement.

``Champions have four qualities - they are rough, tough, strong and mentally sound,'' Richard says.

The sisters also practise taekwondo and gymnastics, and the documentary shows them throwing tennis racquets - not in preparation for a display of on-court bad temper but ``because girls don't know how to throw'', according to their father.

Richard also believes in sign reinforcement - around the practise court are placards which emphasise what the girls should be concentrating on.

One read ``Serena, you must learn to listen''.

Richard's fascination with cameras is also part of his training for the girls so they got used as kids to being on camera anytime, anywhere.On film and in person, Richard comes across as a loving father and his daughters appear totally at ease in his company, and he has strong views about the importance of the family unit.

``Every parent has a right to protect their children. I think I did it the right way - I hope I did.''

He appears to be losing interest in tennis - he refers to himself as a businessman rather than a coach - and hinted that Venus may not remain on the circuit long.

``I don't think I want to come to tennis tournaments anymore,'' he said, and talked of becoming a film producer, going to college and selling solar panels.

``I never stop planning, it's the cornerstone of my career.''

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