Which woman was Serena Williams's mother and early coach?

Oracene Price was Serena Williams’s mother and one of her early coaches.

Price and her former husband, Richard Williams, raised Serena and her older full sister, Venus, and helped establish their tennis foundations. Serena was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1981, and began playing tennis when she was four years old.

Although Richard became the more publicly familiar figure because of his detailed coaching plan and media profile, Oracene also coached both sisters. Her approach emphasized confidence, discipline, composure, and keeping tennis in perspective. She later received recognition as an important, though sometimes underappreciated, tennis coach.

A common mix-up is to name Rick Macci, who coached Serena and Venus at his Florida academy, or Richard Williams, Serena’s father. Macci was an important later mentor, but Price was Serena’s mother and part of her earliest coaching team.