Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time. She is the only player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

Along with her older sister Venus, Serena Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1995, she won her first major singles title at the 1999 US Open. From the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open, she was dominant, winning all four major singles titles (each time over Venus in the final) to achieve a non-calendar year Grand Slam and the career Grand Slam, known as the 'Serena Slam'. The next few years saw her claim two more singles majors, but suffer from injury and decline in form. Beginning in 2007, however, she gradually returned to form despite continued injuries, retaking the world No. 1 singles ranking. Beginning at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, Williams returned to dominance, claiming Olympic gold (completing the Career Golden Slam in singles) and winning eight out of thirteen singles majors, including all four in a row from 2014–15 to achieve a second "Serena Slam". At the 2017 Australian Open, she won her 23rd major singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record. She then took a break from professional tennis after becoming pregnant and reached four major finals upon returning to play. In August 2022, Williams announced her impending "evolution" away from professional tennis and played what was expected to be her final match at the 2022 US Open.

Williams also won 14 major women's doubles titles, all with her sister Venus, and the pair was unbeaten in major doubles finals (the best unbeaten record in major finals in any discipline of the sport). The pair achieved a non-calendar year Grand Slam between the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and the 2010 French Open, which granted the sisters the doubles world No. 1 ranking. Serena won four Olympic gold medals, three in women's doubles—an all-time joint record in tennis, shared with her sister. The duo are the only women in the Open Era to win Olympic gold in both singles and doubles. She also won two major mixed doubles titles, both in 1998. She is the only singles player, male or female, to complete three Career Golden Slams – one in women's singles and two in same-sex doubles.

The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Serena holds a combined 39 major titles: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era for total major titles. She is the most recent woman to simultaneously hold all four major singles titles (2002–03 and 2014–15), and the most recent woman to win the Surface Slam (major titles on hard, clay and grass courts in the same calendar year), doing so in 2015. She is also, with Venus, the most recent player to have simultaneously held all four major women's doubles titles (2009–10).

Williams was the world's highest paid woman athlete in 2016, earning almost $29 million. She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on Forbes' list of the 100 highest-paid athletes, with $27 million in prize money and endorsements. She won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award a record four times (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), and in December 2015 was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. She is the highest-earning woman athlete of all time.

Early life

Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan to Oracene Price and Richard Williams. She is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea, and Isha Price, and full older sister Venus. She also has at least seven paternal half-siblings. When the children were young, the family moved to Compton, California, where she started playing tennis at age four. Her father home-schooled her and her sister, Venus. While he and subsequently her mother have been their official coaches, her other mentors have included Richard Williams, a Compton man who shared her father's name and subsequently founded The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Tutorial Academy.

When Williams was nine, she and her family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach, Florida so she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who provided her with additional coaching. Macci did not always agree with Williams's father, but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, as he wanted them to "go slowly" and focus on school work. Experiences of racism also influenced this decision, as he had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether it would have been more beneficial for them to have followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit, Williams responded, "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us."

Professional career

1995–1998: Professional debut

Williams' parents wanted their daughter to wait until she was 16 to participate in professional tournaments. In 1995, just after turning 14, Williams planned to make her professional debut as a wild-card entry in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California, but was denied by the WTA owing to their age-eligibility restrictions. She subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women's tour, but withdrew it at her parents' request. Her first professional event was in October 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, where she used a wild-card entry to circumvent age-eligibility rules. She lost in the first qualifying round to then 18-year-old American Annie Miller, winning just two games.

Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. The next year, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments, before winning her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked No. 304, she upset No. 7 Mary Pierce, and No. 4 Monica Seles, recording her first career wins over top 10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top-10 opponents in one tournament. She ultimately lost in the semifinals to No. 5 Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked No. 99.

2014–2015: Second ‘Serena Slam’

Williams defended her title at the Brisbane International by defeating No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. At the Australian Open she ended up losing to former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the fourth round. At Dubai, Williams lost her semifinal match to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. Williams next headed to the Miami Open where she won her record seventh title with a straight-sets victory over No. 2 Li Na. Williams lost to Jana Čepelová in the second round of the Family Circle Cup. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open before withdrawing with a left thigh injury. Williams won her third title of the season at the Rome. She was then handed the worst loss of her Grand Slam tournament career by Garbiñe Muguruza at the second round of the French Open, who defeated Serena losing just four games in two sets. Alizé Cornet defeated Williams for the second time in the year in the third round of Wimbledon, thus handing Williams her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005. Serena was then forced to withdraw from the doubles event alongside sister Venus while trailing 0–3 in the second round. A disoriented Serena hit 4 consecutive doubles faults and was having trouble with both her ball toss and movement before being removed from what has been described as one of the most unusual scenes ever seen in tennis.

2017: Australian Open victory and pregnancy

Williams started her 2017 season by participating in the WTA Auckland Open for the first time in her career. She defeated Pauline Parmentier to win her first match since the US Open. In the second round, she lost to Madison Brengle. At the Australian Open, she beat former and present top 10 players Belinda Bencic, Lucie Šafářová, Johanna Konta among others to reach her 8th Australian Open final. On January 28, 2017, she won the Australian Open for an Open Era record seventh time, defeating her sister, Venus. It was her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22. It was the first time in the Open Era that two players aged 35 or older had competed in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The win ensured her return to the No. 1 ranking. Williams subsequently withdrew from the Indian Wells and Miami Opens, citing a knee injury.

Transition from tennis

In the September 2022 issue of Vogue, written in August, Williams announced that she was "evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me". In her announcement she said that she disliked the word "retirement" and preferred the term "evolution".

She went on to cite growing her family, focusing on her venture capital firm, and spending more time with family as reasons she would be leaving the sport. While she did not set an exact time for her goodbye, she stated that she was not ready to win Wimbledon (where she lost in the first round), but would try to win in New York. She also said that she consulted Tiger Woods in her decision.

At her first match since the publication of the Vogue article, where she lost to Belinda Bencic in Toronto, tournament organizers interviewed Williams on-court after her match and gave her gifts to remember the city.

At her matches at the 2022 US Open, which many believed would be her last tournament, tournament directors played a video following her opponents' introduction but before Williams' walk-out. Some saw this as disrespectful to her opponents.[299]

Following her first-round match, where Woods, Mike Tyson, Bill Clinton, Ruth Westheimer, Spike Lee, Vera Wang, and Eric Adams were in attendance, the tournament played a video narrated by Oprah Winfrey and had Gayle King facilitate the post-match on-court interview.

Following her announcement, many fellow players, including Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, praised Williams and said they would not be playing tennis if not for her.

Playing style

Williams is an aggressive baseliner, whose game is centered around her powerful serve and forceful groundstrokes. Owing to her high-risk playing style, she typically hits a large number of both winners and unforced errors. Williams' greatest asset is her serve, which is considered the greatest in the history of women's tennis. Her serve is known for its fast pace and accurate placement, allowing her to serve numerous aces: at the 2013 Australian Open, she served a 128.6 mph (207 km/h) ace in her third round match against Ayumi Morita, which is the third fastest serve recorded in WTA history. Williams possesses an accurate and consistent ball toss, allowing her to serve to any position on the court with minimal differences in the position of the ball in the air; this makes it difficult for opponents to read her service motion and predict the position of her serve, allowing her to dominate a rally from the first stroke. Williams also possesses effective and accurate kick and slice serves, which she deploys as second serves, minimising double faults, and preventing opponents from scoring free points.

Rivalries

Serena vs. Venus

Williams played older sister Venus in 31 professional matches since 1998.Overall, Serena is 19–12 against her sister. Serena played Venus 15 times in Grand Slam singles and 13 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals). They have met in nine Grand Slam tournament finals, with Serena winning seven times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, which was the first time in the Open Era that the same two players had contested four consecutive finals in Grand Slam singles.

Williams vs. Hingis

Williams leads the series 7–6. One of Williams's first rivalries was with Martina Hingis, who turned pro less than one year before her (Hingis in October 1994, Williams in 1995). They first played each other at the 1998 Miami Open where Hingis won in three sets. All but one of their matches was played on a hard court with the exception being a contest on clay in Rome 1999, which Hingis won in straight sets. Their last match took place at the 2002 Miami Open with Williams winning in a loss of just four games.[326] Hingis was forced to briefly retire citing ankle injuries.

Williams vs. Capriati

Williams leads the series against Jennifer Capriati 10–7. Once considered one of the best rivalries in women's tennis, the competition between Williams and Capriati was stiff with 12 out of 17 meetings going three sets. The rivalry, starting in 1999, began one sided with Capriati winning four of their first five matches. Williams would then go on to win the next eight. Williams and Capriati played with similar styles, both known for using their power and athleticism to gain quick advantages in points.

Match controversies

Accusations of match fixing

When both of the Williams sisters entered the top ten and started meeting in tournaments, rumors of match fixing started to circulate. John McEnroe, while commenting on the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters, said that “Serena may not be allowed to win. Richard [Williams] may have something to say about this.”After losing to Venus at the Indian Wells quarterfinals in 2001, Elena Dementieva asserted during a post-match interview that Richard Williams decided the results of matches between the two sisters. Shortly after that, Venus Williams pulled out of her Indian Wells semifinal match against Serena Williams at the last minute, claiming tendinitis; this occurrence garnered much speculation in the press, and some fans demanded their money back.

Indian Wells boycott

At the 2001 Ericsson Open the following week, Richard Williams stated that racist comments were made to him in the stands, and the tournament director refused to offer Williams an apology for how he was treated. As a result, neither sister played the tournament even though it had become a mandatory stop on the WTA tour since 2009. In 2015, Williams decided to end her 14-year boycott and played.

Legacy

Williams is considered one of the best female tennis players of all time. In 2017, BBC Sport users picked Williams as the greatest female tennis player of the Open Era. BBC presenter and former French Open Champion, Sue Barker, said "Serena is the greatest because this era is so much more competitive than previous eras. The pace she generates – her serve is without question the greatest ever – combined with her movement and her power, she pushes her opponents constantly on the back foot". In 2018, a Tennis.com panel selected Serena as the greatest female tennis player in the Open Era. Some commentators, players and sports writers regard Williams as the greatest woman tennis player of all time. In 2018, Federer said the player who probably had the best case for tennis "Greatest Of All Time", man or woman, was Serena Williams. In 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest woman tennis player of all time. In 2022, John McEnroe described Williams as an "icon" and the "GOAT of GOATs".

Alongside her sister Venus, Williams has been widely credited with increasing diversity within the sport:

It all starts with Venus and Serena. The demonstration effect. The power of seeing two African-American girls with braids in the finals of the biggest tournaments in the world in a predominantly white sport. Just a huge impact that really can't be overstated. That attracted thousands of girls into the sport, not just African-American but all backgrounds and races. — Martin Blackman, General Manager of Player Development, United States Tennis Association

Personal life

Williams is married to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. He proposed to her on December 10, 2016, in Rome. On December 30, 2016, Williams announced their engagement in a Reddit post. They married on November 16, 2017, in New Orleans. Guests at the wedding included Beyoncé, Anna Wintour, Kelly Rowland and Kim Kardashian. She planned to move to San Francisco with Ohanian after the wedding.

On April 19, 2017, Williams posted a sideways picture of herself on Snapchat that focused on her midsection; it had the caption, "20 weeks", prompting speculation that she was pregnant. Later that evening, her spokesperson confirmed the pregnancy. The fact that she was 20 weeks pregnant when announcing her pregnancy meant that she was eight weeks pregnant when she won the Australian Open earlier that year. Williams later said that posting the picture on Snapchat was an accident, and that she had intended to save the photo for her records.

In September 2017, Williams gave birth to her daughter. She had an emergency caesarean-section delivery due to the baby's heart rate dropping during labor and was at first devastated about it. She suffered a pulmonary embolism after giving birth, leaving her bedridden for six weeks and delaying her return to training. (This encounter was not her first with the disease venous thromboembolism; she had been hospitalized in 2011 for pulmonary embolism thought to have originated from a deep vein thrombosis.) In August 2018, she revealed she was suffering from postpartum depression. Williams gave her daughter a doll, Qai Qai, that has become famous on social media. She has also faced many questions whether she would raise her daughter to play tennis to which she answered saying she has already hired a coach for her daughter. She also posts many pictures of her and her daughter on the tennis court with rackets.

Williams was raised one of Jehovah's Witness, but states she has "never really practiced it". She often thanks Jehovah after winning matches. Williams confirmed that she follows some practices: “(she) doesn't celebrate birthdays. We're Jehovah's Witnesses, so we don't do that.” In January 2023, about half a year after her retirement, she got baptised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Florida.

Williams' current agent is former player Jill Smoller.

Fashion

Williams has been noted for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. In 2002, there was much talk when she wore a black lycra catsuit at the US Open. At the 2004 US Open, Williams wore denim skirts and knee-high boots—tournament officials did not allow her to wear the boots during matches. At the 2008 Wimbledon, the white trench coat she wore during warm-up for her opening match was the subject of much discussion since it was worn despite sunny weather. Some social scientists have argued that the most negative reactions to Williams's on-court fashion statements, especially in newspaper coverage of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, combines with writers' fixation upon her muscular body to distract from her on-court accomplishments and fit this commentary within centuries-old narratives of the "pornographic eroticism" and "sexual grotesquerie" of African and African-American women.

Filmography

Williams as a child, her early training, and relationship to her sister Venus and family are depicted in the 2021 feature movie King Richard, which focuses especially on Venus's teenage transition into a professional tennis player.