Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan. Coached primarily by her parents, Oracene Price and Richard Williams, she became one of the most successful competitors in the history of tennis. Williams held the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) world No. 1 singles ranking for 319 weeks and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. Over her career, she won 73 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including 23 major singles titles, which represents the most major singles championships won by any player in the Open Era.

Williams spent her early childhood in Compton, California, where she was homeschooled and began playing tennis at age four. She is the youngest of her mother's five daughters, growing up alongside her full sister Venus and three maternal half-sisters. At age nine, her family relocated to West Palm Beach, Florida, so she could train at Rick Macci's tennis academy. By 1991, Williams had compiled a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and held the No. 1 ranking among under-10 players in Florida. Her father removed her from national junior tournaments when she was 10 to focus on her education and protect her from burnout and racism, later taking over all of her coaching at home in 1995.

Williams made her professional debut in October 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec. In 1997, ranked No. 304, she earned her first main-draw victories at the Ameritech Cup in Chicago, defeating top-10 opponents Mary Pierce and Monica Seles to become the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top-10 players in a single tournament. She entered the top 100 that year, and in 1998, she secured her first major titles by winning the mixed doubles events at Wimbledon and the US Open alongside Max Mirnyi.

In 1999, Williams won her first WTA singles title at the Open Gaz de France and her first WTA 1000 event at the Evert Cup. She captured her first major singles championship at the 1999 US Open by defeating Martina Hingis in the final, becoming the second African-American woman to win a Grand Slam singles title. Williams also claimed the US Open doubles title with Venus and helped the United States win the Fed Cup. In 2000, she won an Olympic gold medal in doubles with Venus in Sydney, and in 2001, the sisters completed a Career Grand Slam in doubles at the Australian Open.

Between 2002 and 2003, Williams achieved a non-calendar year Grand Slam—dubbed the "Serena Slam"—by winning four consecutive major singles titles starting at the 2002 French Open and continuing through Wimbledon, the US Open, and the 2003 Australian Open, defeating Venus in all four finals. She became the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a Career Grand Slam in singles and held the year-end No. 1 ranking in 2002.

Williams won 23 WTA doubles titles and 14 major doubles championships, all with her sister Venus, with whom she remained undefeated in major doubles finals. She completed a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles, winning four total Olympic gold medals. Williams achieved a second "Serena Slam" in 2014–2015 and won her 23rd major singles title at the 2017 Australian Open. In 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked her as the greatest women's tennis player of all time.