RADNOR—If you want to know how much of an impact Venus and Serena Williams have made beyond the realm of their sport, just ask another tennis icon—Billie Jean King.

“Individually or together they transcend tennis or sports,” King said. “Everywhere they go, everybody wants to meet them and see them. They’re exceptionally wonderful women.”

“They have a sense of then and now, which most players do not have. We’re going to be celebrating Althea Gibson this year because it’s the 50th year (since she won Wimbledon). They have an understanding and they respect the pioneers and they’re shaping the future.”

Part of that impact was made recently at the All-England Championships at Wimbledon earlier this month. Not only did Williams win her fourth Wimbledon singles title, her prize money — $700,000 — was the same as the men’s singles title winner Roger Federer.

For the last year, Williams, 27, has been an outspoken advocate of women getting equal pay at Wimbledon, something that was not the case since the open tennis era began back in 1968.

“It was definitely ironic, because I did a lot of work for getting equal prize along with Billie Jean King and the WTA,” Williams explained, who was in town on Friday playing for the Philadelphia Freedoms of World Team Tennis. “I guess it was fitting and ironic that I won the year we got equal prize money.”

When Venus Williams took the court to play for the Philadelphia Freedoms in their match against the Houston Wranglers in WTT play, there was a large contingent of African-American faces in the stands at the Cabrini College. King credits that to the success of the Williams sisters.

“I was in New York and there was definitely more people of color there than usual,” King said. “They absolutely get more people of color out there. One of the good things about Team Tennis: A lot of people who talk to me, people of color tell me that this is so intimate and they can see them.”

If there has been a criticism of the Williams sisters, with all their success wins at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open and other Grand Slam events, it is they have spent a lot of time pursuing their off-court ventures. Serena has been involved in modeling while Venus Williams runs her own interior design firm.

“I have a design company called V-Star Interiors and I have a portfolio. In general, I enjoy my life on and off the court,” said Williams, whose boyfriend is golfer Hank Kuehne. “I love playing tennis and I’ll play as long as I can and then I’ll live a normal life.”

One of the reasons Williams has other interests besides tennis is her father, Richard.

He taught her to play, from age four, on neighborhood courts in Compton, Calif. where the family lived until 1991 when the William family moved to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. There both Venus and younger sister Serena trained with pro Rick Macci for a short time.

Then Richard took them out of the WTA juniors program, drawing both praise and criticism, because he did not want them to be consumed by the game and burned out by their mid-20s like many others who sacrificed their youth to the sport.

Both girls, raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses, were home-schooled by their mother Oracene, who prefers to be called Brandi.

It was Venus who later chose to go to the Art Institute of Florida to learn fashion design. Serena joined her in 1999. King said it is up to both Serena and Venus as to how they will pursue the course of their tennis career.

King said Venus has devoted her time to playing tennis.

“It depends upon what they want and Venus is focusing on all her time on tennis,” King said.

As close as Venus and Serena are, they have distinct personalities even though they are just 15 months apart. Serena is seen as the Williams sister who is more attracted to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood while Venus as the older sister prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

“You have to separate them as individuals,” King said. “They each have their own person and they each have their journey, they’re different, they’re only 15 months apart. Yet, they’re so connected.

“Venus is much more motherly toward Serena. Venus is very good with children. She loves children. She’s much more motherly, much more of a homebody while Serena like Hollywood, the glitter. She’s the baby of five sisters. They’re different, but they’re very connected, there’s no question.”

Venus is coming off a whirlwind Wimbledon championship where she entered the tournament as the 31st ranked player in the world and 23rd seed. The 27-year-old Williams powered her way to the title and was the lowest seed to win the singles title. Serena, who lost in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, was her inspiration.

“For me, it didn’t matter what the numbers said,” Venus explained, “I just believed in my abilities and plus my sister won a (Grand Slam-Australian Open) and if she can do it, I can do it.”

Though she is looking at the final years of her career, Venus Williams believes she has plenty of good tennis years before she exits the stage. At this point, she’s gearing up for the U.S. Open in New York. With her nagging wrist injuries behind her, she feels has the momentum to make a run at her third U.S. Open title.

“It’s the healthiest I’ve been in a long time. It’s the longest stretch time I’ve had to practice more consistently and work on my game,” she said.