In one scene of the film, a 14-year-old Venus Williams was taking on Sanchez Vicario at the Bank of the West Classic. In the scene, Williams was in complete control of the match as she led 6-2 3-1 before Sanchez Vicario took a bathroom break. After the bathroom break, Sanchez Vicario went on to win the match.

Collins was right on both counts—it was a little too good to be true. A desperate Sanchez Vicario gave young Venus a glimpse of how the game was played at the pro level: She took a 10-minute bathroom break in the middle of the second set. “Venus thought she probably left to go eat dinner!”

At the same time, Macci secretly wondered how Venus would react to competition after playing only practice sets for so long. Even Richard, who had spent years telling anyone who would listen that his daughters would be the best in the world someday, sounded a note of nervous caution.

Richard Williams drove Venus and Serena to the courts in an old Volkswagen Bus (top) that’s nearly identical to the one Will Smith’s character drives in the movie (bottom). Did Richard Williams get beat up by gangbangers who were harassing his daughters?

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