Before her first professional tournament, when she was just 14 and wearing cornrows, Venus Williams had the audacity to tell Sports Illustrated, “I think I can change the game.” That proved prescient. Williams — who honed her skills at a public park in Compton, Calif., while gang members guarded the grounds — brought explosive power to women’s tennis, setting a Grand Slam record with her 129-m.p.h. serve in 2007. Beginning in 2002, when Williams earned the No. 1 ranking, she and her younger sister Serena faced each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals — the first time two players (related or not) had done that. Although Serena has eclipsed Venus professionally — the younger Williams holds 13 Grand Slam singles titles to the elder’s seven — it’s Venus who remains the steadier, more diplomatic half of the intriguing sister act. After extensive campaigning, she helped persuade the All England Club to award men and women equal prize money at Wimbledon beginning in 2007. She went on to win that tournament and pocketed $1.4 million, the same amount as men’s champ Roger Federer. She turned 31 on June 17, 2011, just three days before Wimbledon began.