Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Serena Williams at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships
Country	United States
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.[1]
Born	(1981-09-26) September 26, 1981 Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Turned pro	September 24, 1995
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es)	Richard Williams (1994–) Oracene Price Patrick Mouratoglou (2012–)
Prize money	US$67,278,178[2] (1st all-time among women athletes and 4th all-time among tennis athletes)[3]
Official website	www.serenawilliams.com
Singles
Career record	704–120 (85.44%)
Career titles	66 WTA (4th in overall rankings)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (July 8, 2002)
Current ranking	No. 1 (April 6, 2015)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015)
French Open	W (2002, 2013)
Wimbledon	W (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012)
US Open	W (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014)
Olympic Games	Gold medal (2012)
Doubles
Career record	177–27 (86.76%)
Career titles	22
Highest ranking	No. 1 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 128 (March 23, 2015)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010)
French Open	W (1999, 2010)
Wimbledon	W (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012)
US Open	W (1999, 2009)
Other Doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2009)
Olympic Games	Gold medal (2000, 2008, 2012)
Mixed Doubles
Career record	27–4 (90%)
Career titles	2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1999)
French Open	F (1998)
Wimbledon	W (1998)
US Open	W (1998)
Other Mixed Doubles tournaments
Team competitions
Fed Cup	W (1999), Record 16–1
Hopman Cup	W (2003, 2008)
Medal record Women's tennis Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney Doubles Gold 2008 Beijing Doubles Gold 2012 London Singles Gold 2012 London Doubles
Last updated on: March 23, 2015.

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked No. 1 in women's singles tennis. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked her World No. 1 in singles on six separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002, and regained this ranking for the sixth time on February 18, 2013, becoming the oldest world no. 1 player in WTA's history. Williams is also regarded by some experts and former tennis players to be the greatest female tennis player in history.^[4][5] She is the only female player to have won over $60 million in prize money,^[6] and is the reigning Australian Open, US Open, WTA Tour Championships and Olympic ladies singles champion.^[7]

Frequently hailed as the Queen of the Court by the general media,^{[8][9][10][11]} Williams holds the most major singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles combined amongst active players, male or female. Her record of 34 Grand Slam titles puts her seventh on the all-time list: 19 in singles, 13 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03), and the fifth woman ever to do so. She is also the most recent player together with her sister Venus Williams to have held all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles simultaneously (2009–10). Her total of 19 Grand Slam singles titles is tied for third on the all-time list with Helen Wills Moody behind Margaret Court (24 titles) and Steffi Graf (22 titles),^[12] and second in the Open Era, behind only Graf.^[12] She has won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Venus and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam finals.^[13] Serena Williams is also a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships.^[14] The arrival of Venus and Serena Williams has been credited with launching a new era of power in women's tennis.^{[15][16][17][18]} Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in women's singles and three in women's doubles, an all-time record shared with her sister Venus.^[19][20]

Early life

Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, USA to Richard Williams and Oracene Price and is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea and Isha Price, and full sister Venus.^[1] When the children were young, the family moved to Compton, California, where Serena started playing tennis at the age of three.^[21][22] Her father home-schooled Serena and her sister Venus^[23][24] and to this day, Serena Williams was and remains coached by both her parents.^[1] Williams's family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach, FL^[21] when she was nine so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Rick Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters. He did not always agree with Williams's father, but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls".^[25] Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Another factor was racial, as he had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments.^[26] At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under-10 players in Florida.^[27] In 1995, when Serena was in the ninth grade, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit would have been beneficial, Williams responded: "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us."^[27] In 2003 sister Yetunde was fatally shot in an SUV after a confrontation with youths in Compton.^[28][29]

Playing style

Williams is primarily a baseline player and her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with her powerful and consistent serve,^[31] return of serve, and forceful groundstrokes from both her forehand and backhand swings. Williams's forehand is considered to be among the most powerful shots in the women's game as is her double-handed backhand. Williams strikes her backhand groundstroke using an open stance, and uses the same open stance for her forehand. Williams's aggressive play, a "high risk" style, is balanced in part by her serve, which is considered to be the greatest in women's tennis history.^[32][33] She consistently projects great pace in her serves and in the 2013 Australian Open, she had a peak serve speed of 126.8 mph (204.1 km/h) which is the third-fastest all-time among female players (only Venus's 129 mph^[34] and Sabine Lisicki's 131 mph^[35] recorded speeds are faster). What makes her serve even more deadly is her ball placement and her ability to consistently place powerful shots with great accuracy.^[36] At the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, Serena hit a women's tournament record of 102 aces which was more than any of the men hit during the two weeks.^[37] Serena also possesses a very solid volley and powerful overhead which is very useful for her net game. Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player, she also plays a strong defensive game.^[38]

Williams is also known for her mental toughness and her ability to come back from improbable situations.^[39][40] She has won three Grand Slam singles titles after saving match points (2003 Australian Open versus Kim Clijsters, 2005 Australian Open versus Maria Sharapova, and 2009 Wimbledon versus Elena Dementieva), more than any other player in history, male or female.^[41] In the 2012 US Open final against Victoria Azarenka, she was down 5–3 in the third set and found herself two points away from losing the match. Williams then proceeded to win the next 4 games and defeated Azarenka.^[42] She also came back from a 3-5 deficit in the third set against Kim Clijsters in the 1999 US Open and went on to win her first Grand Slam singles title. In recent years, Williams has shown an ability to serve aces at critical moments. One of these instances was the 2013 French Open final, where in the last game of the match, she fired three aces, including one clocked at 123 mph (198 km/h) on match point.^[43][44]

Professional career

1995–98: Professional debut

Williams's first professional event was in September 1995, at the age of 14 to counteract the forthcoming changes to age-eligibility rules, at the Bell Challenge. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Anne Miller, winning just two games.^[45]

Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. The following 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 world No. 304, she upset world No. 7 Mary Pierce and world 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.^[1] She ultimately lost in the semifinals to world no. 5 Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked world no. 99.

Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier ranked world no. 96, she defeated world no. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, where she defeated sixth-seeded Irina Spîrlea in the first round, before losing to sister Venus in the second round in the sisters' first professional match.^[46] Williams reached six other quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them, including her first match against world no. 1 Martina Hingis at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, and her second match against Venus at the Italian Open in Rome. She failed to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament the remainder of the year, losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and the third round of both Wimbledon and the US Open, to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Spîrlea, respectively. She did, however, win the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand Slam tournaments. Williams won her first professional title in doubles in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA title.^[1] The Williams sisters won two more doubles titles together during the year. Serena finished the year ranked world no. 20 in singles.

1999–2001: Becoming a top-10 player

Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine Testud. Williams won her first professional singles title when she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France. With Venus also winning the IGA Superthrift Classic that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week.^[47] A month later, Serena won her first Tier I singles title at the Evert Cup, defeating Steffi Graf in the final. At the Lipton International Players Championships, Williams had her 16-match winning streak ended by Venus in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history, Serena made her top-10 debut at world no. 9. She then lost in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open and the German Open, and the third round of the French Open, where she and Venus won the women's doubles title. She then missed Wimbledon because of injury. When she returned to the tour, Williams won a Fed Cup singles match, won the JPMorgan Chase Open, beating Julie Halard-Decugis in the final. She then defeated in succession grand slam champions Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles, and defending champion Lindsay Davenport to reach the US Open final where she defeated world #1 Hingis to become the second African-American woman after Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.^[1] The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at this tournament. To complete 1999, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia. Williams ended the year ranked world no. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.

Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Elena Likhovtseva. She failed to defend her titles in Paris and Indian Wells, although she did win the Faber Grand Prix. Williams missed the French Open because of injury. She returned at Wimbledon, where she lost to Venus in the semifinals, but they won the doubles title at the event. Williams successfully defended her title in Los Angeles, defeating Davenport in the final. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open where an injury forced her to retire from her match with Hingis. Her defense of the US Open title ended when she lost in the quarterfinals to Davenport. Williams teamed with Venus to win the gold medal in doubles at the Sydney Olympics in September. She ended the year winning the Toyota Princess Cup. She finished the year ranked world number 6.

Williams began 2001 losing to Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals of both Sydney and the Australian Open. Serena and Venus won the doubles title at the latter tournament, becoming only the fifth doubles team in history to win all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles during their career, completing a "Career Grand Slam". Her next event was the Pacific Life Open, defeating Kim Clijsters in the final. However the final was marred by the behavior of the crowd towards Williams and her family. The crowd were incensed at the perceived match fixing of games involving the family after Venus withdrew before their semifinal. Neither Williams sister entered the tournament for fourteen years, until Serena entered in 2015, as a wild-card (and the top seed).^[48] The following week at the Ericsson Open, Williams lost to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati at the French Open and Wimbledon. This was the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament at which Williams had exited in the quarterfinals. At the North American hard-court season, she lost in the quarterfinals of Los Angeles, then captured her second title of the year at the Rogers Cup, defeating Capriati in the final. Williams reached the final of the US Open, losing to sister Venus. That was the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters during the open era. At the 2001-ending Sanex Championships, Williams won the championship by walkover when Davenport withdrew before the start of the final because of a knee injury. Williams finished 2001 at world no. 6 for the second straight year.

2002–03: "Serena Slam"

Injury forced Williams to retire from her semifinal match at the Medibank International Sydney and to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open. She won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic, defeating world no. 2 Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Ericsson Open for the first time, becoming one of three players in the open era to defeat the world's top 3 at one tournament,^[1] after beating world no. 3 Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals, world no. 2 Venus in the semifinals, and world no. 1 Capriati in the final. Her straight set win over Venus was her second career win over her sister. Williams played three clay-court tournaments before the 2002 French Open. Her first tournament was at Charleston, where she was the third seed. Serena reached the quarterfinals losing to Patty Schnyder. She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the Eurocard German Open losing to Justine Henin in a third set tiebreak. Williams went on to win her first clay court title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final.^[49] This raised her ranking to a new high of world no. 3. Williams was the third seed at the French Open, where she claimed her first French Open title by defeating defending champion Capriati in the semifinals, and then defeating Venus in the final to win her Second Grand Slam title. Serena rose to a career high of no. 2 after the win, second only to older sister Venus. At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams won the title for the first time, defeating Venus to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first time in her career. This victory earned Williams the world no. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and becoming only the third African-American woman to hold that ranking.^[1] The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam doubles title for the pair. Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to Chanda Rubin, ending a 21-match winning streak. As the top-seeded player at the US Open, Williams reached the final where once again she defeated her sister to win the title for the second time. Williams won two consecutive singles titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, and Anastasia Myskina to win the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-end Home Depot Championships, where she lost to fifth-seeded Clijsters in straight sets, ending her 18-match winning streak. Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 record, eight singles titles, and the world no. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American (male or female) to end a year with that ranking since Althea Gibson in 1958. She was the first woman to win three Grand Slam titles in one year since Hingis in 1997.^[1]

At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams went on to reach the semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the third set and saved two match points, before defeating Clijsters. She faced her sister Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won to become the sixth woman in the open era to complete a Career Grand Slam, joining Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. She also became the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly Brinker, Court, Graf, and Navratilova. This feat was dubbed the Serena Slam by the press.^[50][51] The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event.^[52]

Williams then captured singles titles at the Open Gaz de France and the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams's winning streak came to an end when she lost the final of the Family Circle Cup to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She also lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the top seed at the French Open, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin, marking Williams's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2001. The match was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams's errors.^[53] She was known to be dating professional football player LaVar Arrington at the time. Williams rebounded from the loss at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin in the semifinals and Venus in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. This was her last tournament of the year after pulling out of three events in the USA, Williams underwent surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee at the start of August. Initially she was expected to be out for six to eight weeks.^[54]

2004–07: Injuries, depression, and the comeback

After eight months away from the tour during which her desire was questioned,^[55] Williams began her comeback at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami, where she made a triumphant return as she won the title. This was the third consecutive year that Williams had won this tournament. Although ranked world number seven, she was seeded second at the French Open. Williams lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals. This was the first time she had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. She was seeded first at Wimbledon, even though her ranking had dropped to world number ten. She reached the final, where she was defeated by 13th-seeded Sharapova in straight sets. This loss caused her ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 1999. Williams reached her third final of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles on hard courts where she lost to Lindsay Davenport which was her first loss to the American since the 2000 US Open. She returned for the US Open, where she was seeded third even though she was ranked world number 11. She lost there in the quarterfinals to Capriati in three sets in controversial fashion.^[56] Williams won her second title of the year at the China Open, defeating US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Williams qualified for the WTA Tour Championships. In the round-robin phase of the tournament, she defeated Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina, but lost to Davenport. She lost to Sharapova in the final where Williams suffered an abdominal injury that caused her to serve around 65 mph.^[57] Williams finished 2004 ranked world no. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first time since 2001.

At the 2005 Australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis, following Venus's early exit at the tournament.^[58] Williams saved three match points in defeating Sharapova 8–6 in the third set of their semi final. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport to win her second Australian Open singles title and seventh Grand Slam singles title, winning 12 of the last 15 games.^[59] The win moved Williams back to world number two, and she stated that she was targeting the number one spot.^[60] Williams completed just two tournaments between the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing to Venus in Miami and at Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Francesca Schiavone as Williams suffered a series of retirements and withdraws.^[61][62] A reoccurring ankle injury causing her to miss the French Open.^[63] She returned for Wimbledon as the fourth-seeded player, but was defeated in the third round by world no. 85 Jill Craybas. At the US Open, Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth round. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first meeting at the 1998 Australian Open. Williams played just one more match the remainder of the year, a loss to world no. 127 Sun Tiantian at the tournament in Beijing. She failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998. She finished the year 2005 ranked world number 11, her first time finishing outside the top 10 since 1998.

Williams started 2006 by participating in the Australian Open. Despite being the defending champion, she lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the third round.^[64] After the tournament, Williams told the press that she was injured, blaming a lack of fitness and a knee injury for keeping her off the court.^[65] However, in her biography, Serena claims that she was actually suffering from depression. After she had shut herself off from the world for a period, her sisters held a type of intervention which made Williams see her therapist daily.^[66] After a chance meeting with a young girl who idolized Serena, she signed up to play in Cincinnati. During her conversation with the girl, Williams felt inspired and was informed that she could be even better at tennis. Williams went home and watched some of her old matches and started to believe that she could win again.^[67] She had been away from the tour for almost six months and had slipped to 139 in the world, the lowest ranking Williams had held since 1997. On her return, Williams defeated Myskina and Bethanie Mattek,^[68][69] before losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva.^[70] She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Janković in straight sets. At the US Open, Williams needed a wildcard to enter the tournament, as her ranking at the cut-off time was 139th in the world, outside the automatic 102. However her ranking had improved to 79th by the time the tournament came around.^[71] She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the fourth round.^[72] She did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked world number 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997.

Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to return to the top of the rankings,^[73] a comment 1987 Wimbledon men's singles champion and commentator Pat Cash branded "deluded."^[74] Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Hobart, Australia, a warm-up for the Australian Open. Williams was unseeded at the Australian Open because of her world no. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as "out of shape."^[75] Williams experienced a huge amount of pressure on herself prior to the tournament, coming from her fans and the press as well as Serena herself about her weight, focus and needing a good showing. But just before her first match, a representative from Nike paid Williams a visit in the players' lounge, informing her that if she didn't perform to her accustomed level, the company might drop her. Williams claimed that Nike's ultimatum meant that she would have to reach the quarterfinals at least.^[76] The distraction from Nike did not put Williams off, as she lost just three games to Mara Santangelo and defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets.^[77] By this point, a blister had developed on Williams's foot and she had contracted a cold. In the third round, Williams found herself two points away from going home against Nadia Petrova, but fought back to win in three sets, which was her first win over a top-10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final. Williams then made it all the way to the final, defeating Jankovic, Peer and Vaidisova. Williams described them as "good players. Strong players. Players who certainly didn't expect an overweight, out-of-shape, has been champion like me to give them a game."^[78] Williams also found herself two points from going out against Peer before turning it around.^[79] By the time Williams had reached the final, the cold and blister had gone, but Tracy Austin in her tournament analysis stated that Serena had a great tournament, but the ride was over and that Sharapova would have no trouble with Williams. Serena thought it was mean and unnecessary and used it as motivation with all the other criticism.^[80] In the final, Williams lost just three games against Maria Sharapova winning her first title at any tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open.^[79] Williams became the first player since Chris O'Neil to win the title whilst not being seeded, and claimed her third Australian Open and eighth Grand Slam singles title overall. The win elevated Williams to 14th in the rankings. Williams dedicated the title to her deceased sister Yetunde.^[81] Her performance in the final was described in the press as "one of the best performances of her career" and "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis."^[75][82] In her post match interview, Williams took a swipe at her critics, stating that she had proved them wrong.^[83]

Williams won the Sony Ericsson Open for the fourth time after defeating Justine Henin. Williams had to record a come-from-behind win after being whitewashed in the first set and saving 2 match points in the second.^[84] Williams played for her country in the Fed Cup for the first time since 2003 in a tie against Belgium. Williams won her opening match,^[85] but withdrew from her second, due to a knee injury.^[86] At the French Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Henin.^[87] During her fourth round match against Hantuchová at Wimbledon, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the second set. After a medical timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, rain forced play to be suspended for nearly two hours. When the players returned, Williams won the match in three sets.^[88] Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with Henin, whilst suffering from the injuries sustained in the previous round.^[89] At the US Open, Williams lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin.^[90] Williams reached the final of Kremlin Cup, losing to Elena Dementieva. Williams qualified for the WTA Championships, but retired from her first match with Anna Chakvetadze with a knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the tournament.^[91][92] Williams finished 2007 as World number seven and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.^[87]

2008–10: Back to No. 1 and injuries

Williams started 2008 by participating on the U.S. team that won the Hopman Cup with Mardy Fish.^[93] At the Australian Open she lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Janković.^[87] This was her fourth straight loss in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In the women's doubles event, She and Venus lost in the quarterfinals. Williams then withdrew from three tournaments because of an urgent need for dental surgery.^[94] Williams then won three consecutive singles titles at Bangalore and her fifth Miami title, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament. Williams then added Family Circle Cup her first clay-court title since the 2002 French Open. Her 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of Berlin.^[87] Williams then withdrew in Rome in the quarterfinals against Alizé Cornet because of a back injury. Williams was the only former winner of the French Open in the draw, but lost in the third round to Katarina Srebotnik.

At Wimbledon, Williams reached the finals for the first time in four years. She lost the final to her older sister Venus in straight sets, in their first Slam final since 2003. Serena and Venus then teamed to win the women's doubles title in their first Grand Slam women's doubles title since 2003. Williams played at Stanford, but retired 6–2, 3–1 down with a left knee injury from her semifinal match against qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, the injury forced her to withdraw from Los Angeles. At the Olympics in Beijing, Williams lost to Dementieva in the quarterfinals. Serena and her sister Venus won the gold medal in doubles, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final. Williams at the US Open, defeated sister Venus, Safina and Jelena Janković in the final. This was her third US Open and ninth Grand Slam singles title. This victory returned her to the world no. 1 ranking for the first time since 2003.^[95] At the Year-End Championships she defeated Safina and lost to her sister Venus in her round-robin matches, but withdrew from her match against Dementieva, citing a stomach muscle injury. She ended 2008 ranked world no. 2 and with four singles titles, her strongest performance in both respects since 2003.

Williams began 2009 at the Medibank International losing in the semifinals to Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, she claimed her tenth Grand Slam singles title by defeating Dinara Safina in the final in 59 minutes. This win returned her to the world no. 1 ranking and resulted in her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women's sports, overtaking golfer Annika Sörenstam. In women's doubles, with Venus, they captured the title for the third time. At the Open GDF Suez, Williams withdrew before her semifinal with Dementieva because of a knee injury. Williams then played at Dubai, losing to Venus in the semifinals.

At the Sony Ericsson Open Williams, hampered with ankle and quad injuries, was upset in the final by Victoria Azarenka. This was the first of four consecutive losses for Williams, the longest losing streak of her career.^[96] She was defeated in her opening matches at Barcelona, Rome, and Madrid. Despite not having won a match on clay in 2009 before the French Open, she lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. This ended her 18-match Grand Slam tournament winning streak. She rebounded at Wimbledon, saving a match point in defeating fourth seeded Dementieva in the semifinals. In the final, Serena defeated her sister Venus to win her third Wimbledon title and her 11th Grand Slam singles title.^[97] Williams and her sister Venus teamed to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year, their ninth Grand Slam title in women's doubles.

As a US Open preparation, Williams played at Cincinnati losing in the third round and in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup. At the US Open, she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kim Clijsters amid controversy involving shouting at a line judge when defending match point, an offense which cost Williams the point and consequently the match. She continued in the doubles competition, teaming up with Venus to win their third Grand Slam doubles title of the year and tenth of their career.^[98] Williams won all three of her round-robin matches at the year-end WTA Tour Championships, defeating Venus, Dementieva, and Kuznetsova, saving a match point against Venus. She then advanced to the final, when Wozniacki retired from their semifinal match. In the final, Williams defeated Venus for her second singles title at this event.^[99] Williams finished the year ranked world no. 1 for the second time in her career, having played in 16 tournaments, more than any other year. She also broke the record previously set by Justine Henin for the most prize money earned by a female tennis player in one year, with Williams earning $6,545,586. In doubles, the Williams sisters finished the year ranked world no. 2, despite playing only six tournaments as a pair. She won five Grand Slam titles, putting her total Grand Slam titles at 23. Williams was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press.^[100] She also was the ITF World Champion in singles and doubles.^[101]

In 2010, Williams's first scheduled tournament was the Medibank International Sydney, losing in the final to Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, Williams was the defending champion in both singles and doubles. Williams reached the final, where she defeated Justine Henin for her twelfth Grand Slam singles title. In doubles, Serena and Venus successfully defended their title by defeating Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final. Williams withdrew with a leg injury from her next events. She returned at the Rome losing to Jelena Janković in the semifinals. At the Madrid, she fell to Nadia Petrova in the third round. She teamed with Venus to win the doubles title. At the French Open, she lost to Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. She also played doubles with Venus as the top seeds, they won the title defeating Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam women's doubles title and improved their doubles ranking to world no. 1.

Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she defeated Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final without facing a break point and breaking the serve of Zvonareva three times.^[102][103] She did not lose a set in the tournament.^[104] After the match, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the top 5 of all the women's tennis players in all of history, which she said that "it's not just about how many Slams you win or how many tournaments you win—it's just your game overall. And she's definitely got all the goods."^[103] Serena was the defending champion in doubles with her sister Venus, winning the last two years. They lost in the quarterfinals to Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva. In Munich on July 7, Williams stepped on broken glass while in a restaurant, and missed the rest of the year. She ended the year ranked no. 4 in singles, despite having played only six tournaments, and no. 11 in doubles after four tournaments. On March 2, 2011, she confirmed that she had suffered a hematoma and a pulmonary embolism.^{[105][106][107]}

2011–13: Return to dominance, Career Golden Slam

Williams finally made a return to the practice court in March 2011.^[108] She made her first appearance on the WTA tour in almost a year in Eastbourne.^[109] Williams lost in round two to Vera Zvonareva, in a match that lasted over three hours.^[110] Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. She reached the round of 16, where she lost to Marion Bartoli. After the loss her ranking dropped to 169. Williams won her first titles since her return to tennis triumphing in Stanford and Toronto. At the Western & Southern Open, Serena defeated Lucie Hradecká, only to withdraw the next day, citing a right toe injury. She then played at the US Open going all the way to the final losing to Samantha Stosur, during a match which featured her verbally abusing the chair umpire. The US Open final turned out to be Williams's last match in 2011, and she ended the year ranked world no. 12 with 2 titles and with a 22–3 record for the season. She only participated in six tournaments throughout the season.

Williams started the 2012 season at the Brisbane International, however, during her match against Bojana Jovanovski, she injured her left ankle when serving for the match. As a result, Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament.^[111] Next she participated at the Australian Open where she was upset by Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round. After a month layoff Williams returned to competition in Miami losing in the quarterfinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Williams then won consecutive titles at Charleston and Madrid beating Lucie Šafářová and Victoria Azarenka, but withdrew from her semifinal match against Li Na in Rome citing a lower back injury. Williams suffered her first ever loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open against Virginie Razzano. Williams notched up a 33–1 record for the second half of the season winning five titles in the process.^[112] Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title, her fourteenth Grand Slam title;^[113][114] setting a serving record of 24 aces by a female in a match as well as having the most aces, male or female, during the tournament (103).^[115] Williams returned to America to successfully defend her title in Stanford beating Coco Vandeweghe in the final.^[116][117] Serena then returned to Wimbledon to represent her country at the Olympic Games where she won gold.^[117] Williams undefeated streak ended with a loss in Cincinnati to Angelique Kerber. In New York City, Williams went on to win her fourth US Open singles title and her 15th career Grand Slam title overall beating Azarenka in the final.^[112][118] Williams ended the season by competing at the WTA Championships and went undefeated throughout the tournament to win the event for her third title.^[112] Serena Williams was voted WTA Player of the Year for the fourth time.^[119] Based on her brilliant show in 2012, Serena was also named International Tennis Federation World Champion.^[120] Williams also returned to doubles competitions with Venus; in the pair's first tournament since 2010 Wimbledon, they claimed their fifth Wimbledon doubles title and the 13th grand slam doubles title.^[121] The pair successfully defended their Olympic doubles title which meant that they became the only tennis players to win four gold medals.^[19]

Williams's first tournament of the 2013 season was in Brisbane, where she won the title without dropping a set. Williams was upset in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Australian Open by fellow American player Sloane Stephens. By virtue of defeating Petra Kvitova in Doha, Williams returned to the World Number One position for the sixth time in her career and became the oldest woman in the Open Era to hold the ranking.^[122] Williams went on to lose to Victoria Azarenka in the final. In Miami, Williams lost a set to Maria Sharapova, in the final, for the first time since 2008. However, this setback did not stop Williams who recorded her seventieth come-from-behind win. The win made Williams a six-time champion in Miami breaking the record she held with Steffi Graf and became only the fourth woman in the open era to have won a tournament at least six times.^[123] Williams successfully defended her Charleston title winning it for the third time overall.^[124] Williams won her fiftieth career singles title in Madrid, defeating Sharapova in the final. Williams then played Rome, where she won the title without dropping a set, defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final to take her second title. Williams only dropped ten games in reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. There, she played Svetlana Kuznetsova and lost her first set of the tournament. In the semi final Williams only lost one game when she defeated Sara Errani, something seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert described as the finest female performance on clay she had ever seen.^[125] Williams defeated Sharapova to claim her second Roland Garros title, her sixteenth grand slam title overall. She became the fourth woman in the Open era after Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf to win each Grand Slam title on at least two occasions. At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, she advanced easily to the fourth round before being upset by eventual finalist Sabine Lisicki in three sets. After Wimbledon, Williams won the Swedish Open by defeating Johanna Larsson in the final, the tournament win marked the first occasion that she had won an International level title. By winning the tournament this meant that Williams had managed to be undefeated on clay during the season.^[126]

Williams won her third Rogers Cup title in Toronto beating Sorana Cirstea in the final.^[127] Williams reached the final of the Western & Southern Open for the first time but lost to Azarenka.^[128] At the 2013 US Open, Williams began as the top seed and defending champion. She reached the final—a rematch of the 2012 final against Azarenka—and won in three sets, capturing her 17th Grand Slam singles title.^[129] Williams became the oldest US Open champion in the Open Era and pushed her career prize money past $50 million.^[129] After the US Open, Williams headed to Beijing where she beat Jelena Jankovic to win the China Open for her 10th title of 2013.^[130][131] Williams went through the WTA championships undefeated winning the final against Li Na, to become the first person to defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007. Williams won her eleventh title of the year becoming the eighth player to win eleven tournaments or more in a year and the first since Martina Hingis in 1997.^[132] Additionally Williams became the oldest person to win the WTA Championships and the fourth player to win the event four times or more. By winning the championship Williams became the first woman to win more than ten million dollars in a season and with her total of $12,385,572, only Rafael Nadal, in 2013 and Novak Djokovic, in 2011, 2012 and 2013, have earned more money in a single season.^[133] Williams finished as the year end world number one for the third time.^[134] She was also named the 2013 ITF World Champion the fourth time that she has been given the World Champion's crown.^[135] Williams received two prizes at the 2013 ESPY Awards. Williams won Best Female Athlete and Best Female Tennis Player. Williams is just the fourth person to win Best Female Athlete on two occasions and she won Best Female Tennis player for a record sixth time.^[136] In late December 2013, Williams capped off her year by receiving the Associated Press (AP) 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award, her third AP award after 2002 and 2009. Only two women, Chris Evert and Babe Didrikson, have been chosen more often as AP Athlete of the Year since the annual awards were first handed out in 1931.^[137]

2014-present: Continuing No. 1 and more Majors

As preparation for the year's first Grand Slam Williams extended her winning streak to 22 matches successfully defending her title at the 2014 Brisbane International by defeating world no. 2 Victoria Azarenka in the final.^[138] Serena's Australian Open campaign was once again hampered by an injury. She ended up losing to former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic for the first time in her career in the fourth round, later revealing that she had considered withdrawing from the tournament even before her third round match due to a back injury.^[139] At the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships Williams lost her semi-final 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 world no. 2 Li Na.^[140] After having received a bye in the first round, Serena lost to world no. 78 Jana Čepelová at the Family Circle Cup, though clearly nursing a leg injury. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Mutua Madrid Open before withdrawing with a left thigh injury. As the defending champion, Williams won her third title of the season at the 2014 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She was then handed the worst loss of her Grand Slam career by Garbiñe Muguruza, who defeated Serena losing just 4 games in two sets, in the second round of the 2014 French Open.^[141] Alizé Cornet defeated Williams for the second time the year in the third round of Wimbledon, thus handing Serena her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005. Serena was then forced to withdraw from the doubles event alongside sister Venus Williams 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 disturbing and unusual scenes ever seen in tennis.^{[142][143][144]}

Williams rebounded in spectacular fashion winning 19 out of her next 20 matches (losing only to sister Venus). This streak include titles at the 2014 Bank of the West Classic as well as her first Western & Southern Open title on her sixth attempt^[145] in Cincinnati and, finally, her third consecutive and sixth overall US Open singles title^[146][147] which she won without having dropped a set. With this victory Serena tied Chris Evert for most singles titles won by a woman at the US Open in the open era. Only Steffi Graf has won more Grand Slam singles titles than Serena in the open era. By virtue of having won both the US Open and the US Open Series, Williams collected $4,000,000 – the biggest payday in tennis history. This pushed her career prize money earnings past the $60,000,000 mark. On August 4, 2014, Williams became one of only five women ever to occupy the no. 1 spot on the WTA rankings for at least 200 weeks. Serena's 12 match winning streak came to an end in the second round of the Wuhan Open when a viral illness forced her to retire while up a break in the first set against Alizé Cornet. Cornet thus became the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to record three victories over Williams in one year. At the China Open Williams retired prior to her quarterfinal match versus Samantha Stosur. At the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore Serena advanced to the final for the third consecutive year despite having equaled her career worst loss, winning just two games, to Simona Halep of Romania in her second round robin match. The last time Williams managed to win just two games in a WTA Tour or Grand Slam match was in 1998 when she was just 16.^[148] Williams won her fifth WTA Finals title by avenging her loss to Halep in the championship match for her seventh title of the year.^[149] Serena finished the year ranked world No. 1 for the fourth time in her career. She held the No. 1 ranking for the entire calendar year, a feat not accomplished since Steffi Graf in 1996. She was also voted WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion for the third consecutive year (sixth year overall).

Williams began the 2015 season by representing the United States alongside John Isner at the Hopman Cup. The American pair lost the final to the Polish pair of Agnieszka Radwańska and Jerzy Janowicz.^[150] At the Australian Open Williams avenged her 2014 French Open loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in the fourth round before defeating Dominika Cibulková and Madison Keys to advance to her sixth final at the event. There she defeated Maria Sharapova of Russia for the sixteenth consecutive time to claim her 6th Australian Open singles title and 19th career Grand Slam singles title, winning the title on her third match point in the second set.^{[151][152][153][154][155]} With this victory Williams surpassed both Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for second most Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. The title was also her sixth Grand Slam singles title since turning 30 years of age, three more than the next closest to do so (Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova with three each). She is the only player in history to win all four Grand Slams at least once after having turned 30. The following weekend, Serena and sister Venus traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to face Argentina in a World Group II tie for Fed Cup. She played and won her only match against Maria Irigoyen to help Team USA to a 4-1 win over Argentina.^[156] Williams announced that she would be competing at the Indian Wells Masters ending her 14-year boycott of the event.^[157][158] Upon her return Williams received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her first match in straight sets.^[159] She reached the semifinals, where she was due to face world no. 3 Simona Halep for a place in the final, but was forced to withdraw due to a right knee injury. By virtue of having defeated Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, Serena became one of only eight women in the Open Era to record 700 match wins in her career.^[160] This also makes her one of only three active players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, the others being Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.^[161] In the semifinals she won against Halep to advance to her tenth final at the event,^[162] where she won a record eighth title and extended her winning streak to 21 matches by beating Carla Suárez Navarro.^{[163][164][165]}

As preparation for the clay court season, Williams travelled to Brindisi, Italy to face Italy for a place in the Fed Cup's World Group. Williams lost the decisive doubles match alongside Alison Riske to Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta and as a result the United States were relegated to World Group II. It was Williams' first loss in the Fed Cup.^[166] However, she maintained her perfect record in singles by defeating Errani and Camila Giorgi. The week of April 20th marked Serena's 114th consecutive week ranked world no. 1 - the third-longest run in WTA history behind Steffi Graf's 186 weeks and Martina Navratilova's 156. Williams will next be playing at the Mutua Madrid Open.

On-court activities

Competition with Venus Williams

Serena Williams has played older sister Venus in 25 professional matches since 1998. Overall Serena is 14–11 against her sister. Serena has played Venus 12 times in Grand Slam singles tournaments and 12 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals). They have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, which was the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals.

Controversies

Accusations of match fixing

When Venus and Serena Williams entered the top ten and started meeting in tournaments, unsubstantiated rumors of match fixing started to circulate. John McEnroe while commenting on the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters said "Serena may not be allowed to win. Richard may have something to say about this".^[167] Elena Dementieva, a fellow professional player said that Richard Williams decided the results between the two sisters during a post match interview after losing to Venus at the Indian Wells quarterfinals in 2001.^[168]

2001 Indian Wells

After injuring herself in the quarterfinal match against Dementieva, Venus Williams defaulted to Serena in the semifinals. Although she claimed to have told the tournament official hours beforehand that she would have to default, the official word is that it was 10 minutes before the scheduled start, angering fans who had come to see the match. Consequently, during the final against Kim Clijsters two days later, the spectators jeered Serena from when she first took the court for warm-up through the final trophy presentation including cheering double faults and errors with no intervention from the tournament officials. At the Ericsson Open the following week, Richard Williams said racist comments were made to him in the stands,^[169] and the tournament director refused to offer Serena an apology for how she was treated. As a result, neither sister played the tournament even though since then it had become a mandatory stop on the WTA tour in 2009. In 2015, Serena decided to end her 14-year boycott and entered the tournament.^[170]

2004 US Open

In her 2004 U.S. Open quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati, an overrule was made by chair umpire Mariana Alves in Capriati's favor, even though later video review showed this to be an error (as Williams's shot was inside the court). This was one of several calls that incorrectly went against Williams throughout the match, including during a crucial point. Williams attempted to argue the call, but was not successful. Capriati won the match, but tournament officials dismissed the umpire from the tournament. The controversy renewed calls for the adoption of technology like the MacCam and Hawk-Eye systems.^[171]

2009 US Open

In 2009, Williams again was involved in a controversial U.S. Open match, this time against Kim Clijsters in the semifinal round. The drama began at the end of the first set, when Williams slammed her racquet on the court in frustration over losing the set. She was given a warning, with a potential second violation carrying a one-point penalty. While trailing 4–6, 5–6, 15–30, Williams's second serve was called a foot fault, resulting in two match points for Clijsters. Williams gestured with her racquet to the lineswoman who had made the call and yelled at her, with profanities and an injury threat.^[172] During the subsequent on-court conference between the chair umpire, the lineswoman, US Open officials, and Williams, a television microphone picked up Williams saying to the lineswoman, "I didn't say I would kill you! Are you serious?" Audio later confirmed she did threaten the lineswoman.^[173] The incident resulted in Williams being penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct — necessitated by the earlier warning for racquet abuse — meaning Clijsters won the match 6–4, 7–5. The following day, Williams was issued the maximum permissible on-site fine of $10,000 (plus $500 for racquet abuse). After further investigation, the Grand Slam Committee in November 2009 fined her $175,000 in lieu of suspending her from the 2010 US Open or other Grand Slam events.^[174] They also placed her on a two-year probation, so if Williams committed another offense in the following two years at a Grand Slam tournament, she would be suspended from participating in the following US Open. If she committed no offenses in the next two years, her fine would be reduced to $82,500.^[174] Williams initially refused to apologize for her outburst, both in her post-match press conference^[175] and in an official statement released the following day.^[98] She eventually apologized to the lineswoman in a statement two days following the incident.

2011 US Open

In the final of the 2011 U.S. Open against Samantha Stosur, Williams again generated controversy. After shouting "Come on!" as the Australian attempted to return a forehand Williams believed to be a winner, chair umpire Eva Asderaki awarded the point to Stosur based on the USTA's deliberate hindrance rule, which states, "If a player commits any act which hinders his opponent in making a stroke, then, if this is deliberate, he shall lose the point or if involuntary, the point shall be replayed."^[176] As the point was 30–40 on Williams's serve, the penalty gave the break of serve to Stosur. Williams became angry with the chair umpire and made several gestures and unflattering comments toward her during the next changeover, including telling Asderaki that if she ever saw the umpire coming toward her, she should "look the other way".^[177] Williams initially gained momentum in the set following the penalty, breaking back in the next game, but eventually flagged and lost the match, 6–2, 6–3. At the end of the match, she declined to offer the customary handshake to Asderaki.^[178][179] Williams mentioned the incident in her post-match speech as the tournament runner-up, claiming, "I hit a winner, but I guess it didn't count", but added, "It wouldn't have mattered in the end. Sam played really well." A writer for ESPN suggested that Williams could avoid being found to have violated the terms of the "probation" on which she was placed following her 2009 outburst, as she did not appear to have used profanity in addressing Asderaki during the match.^[180] In the end, Williams was fined $2,000 and was not barred from competing in the 2012 US Open because "...Williams's conduct, while verbally abusive, [did] not rise to the level of a major offence under the Grand Slam code of conduct."^[181]

Off-court activities

Equipment

In the early 2000s, Williams wore Puma apparel and footwear on court.^[182] She used Wilson Hammer 6.4 Stretch Power Holes racket.^[183]

Fashion

Williams was once known for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. In 2002, there was much talk when she wore a Lane Bryant black lycra catsuit at the US Open.^[184] At the 2004 US Open, Williams wore denim skirts and knee-high boots—tournament officials, however, did not allow her to wear the boots during matches.^[185] At Wimbledon in 2008, the white trench coat she wore during warm-up for her opening match was the subject of much discussion since it was worn despite the sunny weather.^[186] Off-court, Williams has also presented new designs. In November 2004, at the London premiere of After the Sunset she wore a red gown that had a near-topless effect.^[187]

Williams formerly had a special line with Puma^[188] and currently has a line with Nike. The deal with Nike is worth US$40 million and was signed in April 2004.^[189] Since 2004, she has also been running her own line of designer apparel called "Aneres"—her first name spelled backward. In 2009 she launched a signature collection of handbags and jewelry.^[190] The collection, called Signature Statement, is sold mainly on the Home Shopping Network (HSN).

In early 2010, Williams became a certified nail technician in preparation for her upcoming nail collection with a company called HairTech.^[191]

In 2015, she became the first black female athlete to have a picture by herself on the cover of Vogue, which she did for the April 2015 issue.^[192]

Entertainment

Williams has appeared on television and also provided voice work on animated shows: in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons Serena joined the animation along with sister Venus, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.^[193] She has also provided guest voice work in a 2005 episode of Playhouse Disney's animated kids show Higglytown Heroes and a 2007 episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender,^[194] which she has described as her "favorite show".^[195]

Williams has posed for the 2003 and 2004 editions of the Lane Bryant Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.^[196] In April 2005, MTV announced plans to broadcast a reality show around the lives of Serena and Venus, which was eventually aired on ABC Family. Williams has appeared twice on MTV's Punk'd and in 2007, appeared in the ABC reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race. In 2002, she played Miss Wiggins in the season 3 episode "Crouching Mother, Hidden Father" of My Wife and Kids;^[197] she has also guest-starred during episodes of The Bernie Mac Show, ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[198] In 2007 Williams appeared in the music video of "I Want You" by the American rapper Common, alongside performers Alicia Keys and Kanye West.^[199]

In late 2009, Williams became the first active female professional athlete to appear in a feminine hygiene product advertising campaign. A series of online videos and print advertisements for Tampax Pearl tampons showed her hitting balls at Mother Nature, played by Catherine Lloyd Burns, to prevent Mother Nature giving her a red-wrapped gift, representing her menstrual period. In the online videos, the two have dueling press conferences over the "bad blood" between them. "A lot of celebrities are not open to working with our brand, and we're thrilled that Serena is", said a brand manager for Tampax at Procter & Gamble.^[200]

In May 2012, a minute of an absurd new hip-hop track by Serena Williams was leaked, along with reports the sports star was planning to release an album titled Cray, Cray and My Gucci Glasses.^[201] In July 2012, she appeared in the ABC comedic improv television series Trust Us With Your Life and as a lawyer on the Lifetime television series Drop Dead Diva.

Miami Dolphins venture

In August 2009, Serena and Venus Williams became part-owners of the Miami Dolphins. The formal announcement was made during a press conference overlooking the practice field. The Williams are the first African-American females to obtain ownership in an NFL franchise. Other prominent owners include: Jimmy Buffett, Gloria and Emilio Estefan (the first Cuban-American owners), and Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Stephen Ross, the majority owner of the Dolphins, said "We are thrilled to have Venus and Serena join the Dolphins as limited partners. They are among the most admired athletes in the world and have become global ambassadors for the game of tennis. Their addition to our ownership group further reflects our commitment to connect with aggressively and embrace the great diversity that makes South Florida a multicultural gem."^[202]

Charity work

In 2008 Williams helped to fund the construction of the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya.^[203][204] She received a Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundation in 2003 for work in breast cancer.^[205] Williams has also been involved in a number of clinics at schools and community centers, particularly those which have programs focusing on at-risk youth.^[1] She has also won the "Young Heroes Award" from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater L.A. and Inland (2003) and the "Family Circle and Prudential Financial Player Who Makes a Difference Award" (2004).^[1] In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Williams, along with other ATP and WTA stars decided to forgo their final day of preparation for the 2010 Australian Open to form a charity event in which all proceeds will go to the Haiti earthquake victims.^[206]

Writing

The Williams sisters, with author Hilary Beard, wrote a book titled Venus & Serena: Serving From The Hip: 10 Rules For Living, Loving and Winning, which was published in 2005.^[207][208] During the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Williams said that she is in the process of writing a TV show storyline, which will be converted into script form by her agency. She stated that the show will represent subject matter from a mix of popular American television shows such as Desperate Housewives, and Family Guy.^[209] Serena released her first solo autobiography entitled On the Line, following the 2009 US Open.

Grand Slam tournaments

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

R#

RR

LQ (Q#)

A

P

Z#

PO

SF-B

F-S

G

NMS

NH

Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Tournament	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	SR	W–L
Australian Open	2R	3R	4R	QF	A	W	A	W	3R	W	QF	W	W	A	4R	QF	4R	W	6 / 15	68–9
French Open	4R	3R	A	QF	W	SF	QF	A	A	QF	3R	QF	QF	A	1R	W	2R		2 / 13	47–11
Wimbledon	3R	A	SF	QF	W	W	F	3R	A	QF	F	W	W	4R	W	4R	3R		5 / 15	72–10
US Open	3R	W	QF	F	W	A	QF	4R	4R	QF	W	SF	A	F	W	W	W		6 / 15	79–9
Win–Loss	8–4	11–2	12–3	18–4	21–0	19–1	14–3	12–2	5–2	19–3	19–3	23–2	18–1	9–2	17–2	21–2	13–3	7–0	19 / 58	266–39

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 19 (19–4)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1999	US Open	Hard	Martina Hingis	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up	2001	US Open	Hard	Venus Williams	2–6, 4–6
Winner	2002	French Open	Clay	Venus Williams	7–5, 6–3
Winner	2002	Wimbledon	Grass	Venus Williams	7–6(7–4), 6–3
Winner	2002	US Open (2)	Hard	Venus Williams	6–4, 6–3
Winner	2003	Australian Open	Hard	Venus Williams	7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–4
Winner	2003	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Venus Williams	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	2004	Wimbledon	Grass	Maria Sharapova	1–6, 4–6
Winner	2005	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	2–6, 6–3, 6–0
Winner	2007	Australian Open (3)	Hard	Maria Sharapova	6–1, 6–2
Runner-up	2008	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Venus Williams	5–7, 4–6
Winner	2008	US Open (3)	Hard	Jelena Janković	6–4, 7–5
Winner	2009	Australian Open (4)	Hard	Dinara Safina	6–0, 6–3
Winner	2009	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Venus Williams	7–6(7–3), 6–2
Winner	2010	Australian Open (5)	Hard	Justine Henin	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Winner	2010	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Vera Zvonareva	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	2011	US Open (2)	Hard	Samantha Stosur	2–6, 3–6
Winner	2012	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Agnieszka Radwańska	6–1, 5–7, 6–2
Winner	2012	US Open (4)	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Winner	2013	French Open (2)	Clay	Maria Sharapova	6–4, 6–4
Winner	2013	US Open (5)	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	7–5, 6–7(6–8), 6–1
Winner	2014	US Open (6)	Hard	Caroline Wozniacki	6–3, 6–3
Winner	2015	Australian Open (6)	Hard	Maria Sharapova	6–3, 7–6(7–5)

Women's doubles: 13 (13–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1999	French Open	Clay	Venus Williams	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	6–3, 6–7(2–7), 8–6
Winner	1999	US Open	Hard	Venus Williams	Chanda Rubin Sandrine Testud	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Winner	2000	Wimbledon	Grass	Venus Williams	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–2
Winner	2001	Australian Open	Hard	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu	6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Winner	2002	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Venus Williams	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–2, 7–5
Winner	2003	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Venus Williams	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Winner	2008	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Venus Williams	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–2, 6–2
Winner	2009	Australian Open (3)	Hard	Venus Williams	Daniela Hantuchová Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–3
Winner	2009	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Venus Williams	Samantha Stosur Rennae Stubbs	7–6(7–4), 6–4
Winner	2009	US Open (2)	Hard	Venus Williams	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–2, 6–2
Winner	2010	Australian Open (4)	Hard	Venus Williams	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–4, 6–3
Winner	2010	French Open (2)	Clay	Venus Williams	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	6–2, 6–3
Winner	2012	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Venus Williams	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	7–5, 6–4

Mixed doubles: 4 finals (2–2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1998	French Open	Clay	Luis Lobo	Justin Gimelstob Venus Williams	3-6,4–6
Winner	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Max Mirnyi	Mahesh Bhupathi Mirjana Lučić	6–4, 6–4
Winner	1998	US Open	Hard	Max Mirnyi	Patrick Galbraith Lisa Raymond	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	1999	Australian Open	Hard	Max Mirnyi	David Adams Mariaan de Swardt	4–6, 6–4, 6–7(5–7)

Records and achievements

• These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
• Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
• Records in italics are currently active streaks.

Time span	Selected Grand Slam tournament records	Players matched
2002	100% (21–0) match winning record in a season	Margaret Court Steffi Graf
1999 US Open — 2003 Australian Open	Career Grand Slam in singles	Margaret Court Billie Jean King Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf Maria Sharapova
2012 Wimbledon — 2015 Australian Open	Career Grand Slam in singles after age 30	Stands alone
1999 US Open — 2012 Olympics	Career Golden Slam	Steffi Graf
2012 Wimbledon — 2015 Australian Open	Career Golden Slam in singles after age 30	Stands alone
1999 French Open — 2003 Australian Open	Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles	Margaret Court Martina Navratilova
1999 French Open — 2012 Olympics	Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles	Stands alone
2012 Wimbledon — 2015 Australian Open	Six Grand Slam singles titles after age 30	Stands alone
1999 US Open — 2015 Australian Open	Twelve hardcourt Grand Slam singles titles	Stands alone
2012 Wimbledon — 2013 French Open	Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold and Majors on clay, grass and hard courts	Steffi Graf
2008 Olympics — 2010 French Open	Simultaneous holder of Olympic gold and all four majors in doubles (with Venus Williams)	Stands alone
1999 French Open — 2012 Olympics	2+ doubles titles at all 4 Majors and the Olympics (with Venus Williams)	Stands alone
2002 French Open — 2003 Australian Open	Holder of all four Grand Slam singles titles at once	Margaret Court Steffi Graf Martina Navratilova
2002 French Open — 2013 French Open	Winner of all four Grand Slam singles titles in two decades	Steffi Graf
1999 US Open — 2013 French Open	Winner of Grand Slam singles titles in three decades	Martina Navratilova
1999 French Open — 2012 Wimbledon	First 13 Grand Slam doubles finals won (w/Venus Williams)	Stands alone
1999 US Open — 2013 French Open	Double Career Grand Slam (2+ titles at all four Majors) in singles	Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf
1999 US Open — 2013 French Open	Double Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles	Martina Navratilova
1999 US Open — 2013 US Open	5+ titles at three Majors	Steffi Graf
1999 US Open — 2015 Australian Open	6+ titles at two Majors	Chris Evert Steffi Graf

Grand Slam tournaments	Time span	Records at each Grand Slam tournament	Players matched
Australian Open	2007	Unseeded winner of singles title	Chris O'Neil
Australian Open	2003–2015	6 titles overall	Stands alone
Australian Open	1998–2015	70 match wins overall	Stands alone
US Open	1999–2014	6 titles overall[210]	Chris Evert
US Open	2002–2014	3 titles won without losing a set	Chris Evert
US Open	1999–2012	Winner of singles titles in three decades	Stands alone
US Open	1999–2014	15 years between first and last title	Stands alone
US Open	2013–2014	Won as US Open Series Champion multiple times	Stands alone
US Open	1998–2014	89.77% Winning Percentage	Stands alone

Time span	Other selected records	Players matched
1999–2015	21 Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles titles overall	Stands alone
1999–2015	29 Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles finals overall	Stands alone
1999–2015	15 Hard court Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles titles overall	Stands alone
2010	Ranked no. 1 in singles and doubles simultaneously	Martina Navratilova Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Martina Hingis Lindsay Davenport
2003–2008	2 Hopman Cup titles	Dominik Hrbatý Tommy Robredo James Blake Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
2002–2015	8 Miami Masters singles titles overall	Stands alone
2000–2012	4 Olympic Gold Medals overall	Venus Williams
2000–2012	3 Olympic Gold Medals in Doubles (w/Venus Williams)	Stands alone
2000 2012	100% (15–0) Olympic match winning record in doubles (w/Venus Williams)	Stands alone
2001, 2012	Two Year-End Championships won without losing a set	Martina Navratilova
2001–2013	Winning percentage of 83.3% at Year-End Championships	Stands alone
1995–2014	$60,881,179 prize money overall	Stands alone

Filmography

Film & Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Simpsons	Herself (voice)	Episode: "Tennis the Menace"
2002	My Wife and Kids	Miss Wiggins	Episode: "Crouching Mother, Hidden Father"
2003	Street Time	Meeka Hayes	Episode: "Fly Girl"
2004	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Chloe Spiers	Episode: "Brotherhood"
2004	The Division	Jennifer Davis	Episode: "Lost and Found"
2004	Hair Show	Agent Ross
2005	Higglytown Heroes	Snowplow Driver Hero (voice)	Episode: "Higgly Hoedown/Eubie's Turbo Sled"
2005	ER	Alice Watson	Episode: "Two Ships "
2005	All of Us	Herself	Episode: "Not So Wonderful News"
2005	America's Next Top Model	Herself	Episode: "The Girl with the Worst Photo in History"
2005–2007	Punk'd	Herself	3 episodes
2007	Loonatics Unleashed	Queen Athena (voice)	Episode: "Apocalypso"
2007	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Ming (voice)	Episode: "The Day of Black Sun: Part 1 – The Invasion"
2006	The Bernie Mac Show	Herself	Episode: "Spinning Wheels"
2008	The Game	Herself	Episode: "The List Episode"
2008	MADtv	Herself / Black Racket	Episode: "Episode 7"
2011	Keeping Up with the Kardashians	Herself	Episode: "Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event – Part 2"
2012	Drop Dead Diva	Kelly Stevens	Episode: "Rigged"
2013	The Legend of Korra	Female Sage (voice)	Episode: "Beginnings, Part 1"

See also

References

Works cited

• Morgan, Terri (2001). Venus and Serena Williams: Grand Slam Sisters. Sports Achievers Biographies. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publishing. 64pp. ISBN 9780822536840. 
• Williams, Venus; Williams, Serena & Beard, Hilary (2005). Venus and Serena: Serving from the Hip: 10 Rules For Living, Loving and Winning. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 133pp. ISBN 9780618576531. 
• Williams, Serena & Paisner, Daniel (2009). On the Line. New York: Hachette Digital. 214pp. ISBN 9780446564021. 
• Williams, Serena & Paisner, Daniel (2009). My Life: Queen of the Court. New York: Simon & Schuster. 257pp. ISBN 9781847375445. 

External links

• Official website
• Serena Williams at the Women's Tennis Association
• Serena Williams at the International Tennis Federation
• Serena Williams at the Fed Cup
• Serena Williams at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Serena Williams on Hossli.com

Serena Williams Entourage Oracene Price (mother/coach) Richard Williams (father/coach) Venus Williams (sister/doubles partner) Patrick Mouratoglou (coach) Aleksandar Bajin (hitting partner) Esther Lee (physical therapist) Mackie Shilstone (fitness coach) Jill Smoller (agent) Career Achievements Statistics World No. 1 ranking United States Fed Cup team Rivalries Rivalry with Justine Henin Rivalry with Martina Hingis Rivalry with Venus Williams Seasons Early career 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Australian Open titles Singles 2003 2005 2007 2009 2010 2015 Doubles 2001 2003 2009 2010 Mixed Doubles None French Open titles Singles 2002 2013 Doubles 1999 2010 Mixed Doubles None Wimbledon Championships titles Singles 2002 2003 2009 2010 2012 Doubles 2000 2002 2008 2009 2012 Mixed Doubles 1998 US Open titles Singles 1999 2002 2008 2012 2013 2014 Doubles 1999 2009 Mixed Doubles 1998 Olympics Gold Singles 2012 Doubles 2000 2008 2012 Mixed Doubles None Fed Cup titles 1999 Official Website * WTA Profile

Serena Williams (Achievement predecessor & successor) Sporting positions Preceded by Venus Williams Ana Ivanovic Jelena Janković Dinara Safina Dinara Safina Victoria Azarenka World No. 1 July 8, 2002 – August 10, 2003 September 8, 2008 – October 5, 2008 February 2, 2009 – April 19, 2009 October 12, 2009 – October 25, 2009 November 2, 2009 – October 10, 2010 February 18, 2013 – Present Succeeded by Kim Clijsters Jelena Janković Dinara Safina Dinara Safina Caroline Wozniacki Incumbent Preceded by Caroline Wozniacki Petra Kvitová US Open Series Champion 2011 2013, 2014 Succeeded by Petra Kvitová Incumbent Awards and achievements Preceded by Venus Williams WTA Newcomer of the Year 1998 Succeeded by Kim Clijsters Preceded by Patty Schnyder WTA Most Improved Player 1999 Succeeded by Elena Dementieva Preceded by Martina Hingis & Anna Kournikova Cara Black & Liezel Huber WTA Doubles Team of the Year 2000 (with Venus Williams) 2009 (with Venus Williams) Succeeded by Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta Preceded by Jennifer Capriati Justine Henin Petra Kvitová WTA Player of The Year 2002 2008, 2009 2012 – 2014 Succeeded by Justine Henin Kim Clijsters Incumbent Preceded by Jennifer Capriati Jelena Janković Petra Kvitová ITF Women's Singles World Champion 2002 2009 2012 – 2014 Succeeded by Justine Henin Caroline Wozniacki Incumbent Preceded by Jennifer Capriati Candace Parker Gabby Douglas Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 2002 2009 2013 Succeeded by Annika Sörenstam Lindsey Vonn Incumbent Preceded by Inge de Bruijn Lindsey Vonn Gazzetta dello Sport Sportswoman of the Year 2002 2013 Succeeded by Paula Radcliffe Tina Maze Preceded by Jennifer Capriati Yelena Isinbayeva Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year 2003 2010 Succeeded by Annika Sörenstam Lindsey Vonn Preceded by Venus Williams Maria Sharapova Maria Sharapova Best Female Tennis Player ESPY Award 2003–2004 2009–2011 2013 Succeeded by Maria Sharapova Maria Sharapova Maria Sharapova Preceded by Venus Williams Brittney Griner Best Female Athlete ESPY Award 2003 2013 Succeeded by Diana Taurasi Ronda Rousey Preceded by Amélie Mauresmo WTA Comeback Player of the Year 2004 Succeeded by Kim Clijsters Preceded by Martina Hingis Laureus Comeback of the Year 2007 Succeeded by Paula Radcliffe Preceded by Cara Black & Liezel Huber ITF Women's Doubles World Champion 2009 (with Venus Williams) Succeeded by Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta Preceded by First Award Maria Kirilenko & Victoria Azarenka WTA Fan Favorite Doubles Team of the Year 2009, 2010 (with Venus Williams) 2012 (with Venus Williams) Succeeded by Maria Kirilenko & Victoria Azarenka Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina Preceded by Lionel Messi (Sportperson of the Year) L'Équipe Champion of Champions 2012, 2013 Succeeded by Katie Ledecky Records Preceded by Lindsay Davenport WTA Prize money leader February 2, 2009 – Incumbent

Serena Williams in the Grand Slam Tournaments   Women's singles Australian Open women's singles champions (1969) Margaret Court (1970) Margaret Court (1971) Margaret Court (1972) Virginia Wade (1973) Margaret Court (1974) Evonne Goolagong (1975) Evonne Goolagong (1976) Evonne Goolagong (1977 (Jan)) Kerry Reid (1977 (Dec)) Evonne Goolagong (1978) Chris O'Neil (1979) Barbara Jordan (1980) Hana Mandlíková (1981) Martina Navratilova (1982) Chris Evert (1983) Martina Navratilova (1984) Chris Evert (1985) Martina Navratilova (1987) Hana Mandlíková (1988) Steffi Graf (1989) Steffi Graf (1990) Steffi Graf (1991) Monica Seles (1992) Monica Seles (1993) Monica Seles (1994) Steffi Graf (1995) Mary Pierce (1996) Monica Seles (1997) Martina Hingis (1998) Martina Hingis (1999) Martina Hingis (2000) Lindsay Davenport (2001) Jennifer Capriati (2002) Jennifer Capriati (2003) Serena Williams (2004) Justine Henin (2005) Serena Williams (2006) Amélie Mauresmo (2007) Serena Williams (2008) Maria Sharapova (2009) Serena Williams (2010) Serena Williams (2011) Kim Clijsters (2012) Victoria Azarenka (2013) Victoria Azarenka (2014) Li Na (2015) Serena Williams French Open women's singles champions (1968) Nancy Richey (1969) Margaret Court (1970) Margaret Court (1971) Evonne Goolagong (1972) Billie Jean King (1973) Margaret Court (1974) Chris Evert (1975) Chris Evert (1976) Sue Barker (1977) Mima Jaušovec (1978) Virginia Ruzici (1979) Chris Evert (1980) Chris Evert (1981) Hana Mandlíková (1982) Martina Navratilova (1983) Chris Evert (1984) Martina Navratilova (1985) Chris Evert (1986) Chris Evert (1987) Steffi Graf (1988) Steffi Graf (1989) Arantxa Sánchez (1990) Monica Seles (1991) Monica Seles (1992) Monica Seles (1993) Steffi Graf (1994) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995) Steffi Graf (1996) Steffi Graf (1997) Iva Majoli (1998) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1999) Steffi Graf (2000) Mary Pierce (2001) Jennifer Capriati (2002) Serena Williams (2003) Justine Henin (2004) Anastasia Myskina (2005) Justine Henin (2006) Justine Henin (2007) Justine Henin (2008) Ana Ivanovic (2009) Svetlana Kuznetsova (2010) Francesca Schiavone (2011) Li Na (2012) Maria Sharapova (2013) Serena Williams (2014) Maria Sharapova Wimbledon (Open era) ladies' singles champions (1968) Billie Jean King (1969) Ann Haydon-Jones (1970) Margaret Court (1971) Evonne Goolagong (1972) Billie Jean King (1973) Billie Jean King (1974) Chris Evert (1975) Billie Jean King (1976) Chris Evert (1977) Virginia Wade (1978) Martina Navratilova (1979) Martina Navratilova (1980) Evonne Goolagong (1981) Chris Evert (1982) Martina Navratilova (1983) Martina Navratilova (1984) Martina Navratilova (1985) Martina Navratilova (1986) Martina Navratilova (1987) Martina Navratilova (1988) Steffi Graf (1989) Steffi Graf (1990) Martina Navratilova (1991) Steffi Graf (1992) Steffi Graf (1993) Steffi Graf (1994) Conchita Martínez (1995) Steffi Graf (1996) Steffi Graf (1997) Martina Hingis (1998) Jana Novotná (1999) Lindsay Davenport (2000) Venus Williams (2001) Venus Williams (2002) Serena Williams (2003) Serena Williams (2004) Maria Sharapova (2005) Venus Williams (2006) Amélie Mauresmo (2007) Venus Williams (2008) Venus Williams (2009) Serena Williams (2010) Serena Williams (2011) Petra Kvitová (2012) Serena Williams (2013) Marion Bartoli (2014) Petra Kvitová US Open women's singles champions (1968) Virginia Wade (1969) Margaret Court (1970) Margaret Court (1971) Billie Jean King (1972) Billie Jean King (1973) Margaret Court (1974) Billie Jean King (1975) Chris Evert (1976) Chris Evert (1977) Chris Evert (1978) Chris Evert (1979) Tracy Austin (1980) Chris Evert (1981) Tracy Austin (1982) Chris Evert (1983) Martina Navratilova (1984) Martina Navratilova (1985) Hana Mandlíková (1986) Martina Navratilova (1987) Martina Navratilova (1988) Steffi Graf (1989) Steffi Graf (1990) Gabriela Sabatini (1991) Monica Seles (1992) Monica Seles (1993) Steffi Graf (1994) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995) Steffi Graf (1996) Steffi Graf (1997) Martina Hingis (1998) Lindsay Davenport (1999) Serena Williams (2000) Venus Williams (2001) Venus Williams (2002) Serena Williams (2003) Justine Henin (2004) Svetlana Kuznetsova (2005) Kim Clijsters (2006) Maria Sharapova (2007) Justine Henin (2008) Serena Williams (2009) Kim Clijsters (2010) Kim Clijsters (2011) Samantha Stosur (2012) Serena Williams (2013) Serena Williams (2014) Serena Williams   Women's doubles Australian Open women's doubles champions (1969) Margaret Court / Judy Tegart Dalton (1970) Margaret Court / Judy Tegart Dalton (1971) Evonne Goolagong / Margaret Court (1972) Kerry Harris / Helen Gourlay Cawley (1973) Margaret Court / Virginia Wade (1974) Evonne Goolagong Cawley / Peggy Michel (1975) Evonne Goolagong Cawley / Peggy Michel (1976) Evonne Goolagong Cawley / Helen Gourlay Cawley (1977 (Jan)) Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat / Helen Gourlay Cawley (1977 (Dec)) Evonne Goolagong Cawley / Helen Gourlay Cawley & Mona Schallau Guerrant / Kerry Melville Reid (1978) Betsy Nagelsen / Renáta Tomanová (1979) Judy Connor Chaloner / Diane Evers Brown (1980) Martina Navratilova / Betsy Nagelsen (1981) Kathy Jordan / Anne Smith (1982) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1983) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1984) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1985) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1987) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1988) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1989) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1990) Jana Novotná / Helena Suková (1991) Patty Fendick / Mary Joe Fernández (1992) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario / Helena Suková (1993) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1994) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1995) Jana Novotná / Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1996) Chanda Rubin / Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1997) Martina Hingis / Natalia Zvereva (1998) Martina Hingis / Mirjana Lučić (1999) Martina Hingis / Anna Kournikova (2000) Lisa Raymond / Rennae Stubbs (2001) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2002) Martina Hingis / Anna Kournikova (2003) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2004) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2005) Svetlana Kuznetsova / Alicia Molik (2006) Yan Zi / Zheng Jie (2007) Cara Black / Liezel Huber (2008) Alona Bondarenko / Kateryna Bondarenko (2009) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2010) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2011) Gisela Dulko / Flavia Pennetta (2012) Svetlana Kuznetsova / Vera Zvonareva (2013) Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (2014) Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (2015) Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Šafářová French Open women's doubles champions (1968) Françoise Dürr / Ann Haydon-Jones (1969) Françoise Dürr / Ann Haydon-Jones (1970) Gail Chanfreau / Françoise Dürr (1971) Gail Chanfreau / Françoise Dürr (1972) Billie Jean King / Betty Stöve (1973) Margaret Court / Virginia Wade (1974) Chris Evert / Olga Morozova (1975) Chris Evert / Martina Navratilova (1976) Fiorella Bonicelli / Gail Chanfreau (1977) Regina Maršíková / Pam Teeguarden (1978) Mima Jaušovec / Virginia Ruzici (1979) Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull (1980) Kathy Jordan / Anne Smith (1981) Rosalyn Fairbank Nideffer / Tanya Harford (1982) Martina Navratilova / Anne Smith (1983) Rosalyn Fairbank Nideffer / Candy Reynolds (1984) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1985) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1986) Martina Navratilova / Andrea Temesvári (1987) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1988) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1989) Larisa Savchenko Neiland / Natalia Zvereva (1990) Jana Novotná / Helena Suková (1991) Gigi Fernández / Jana Novotná (1992) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1993) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1994) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1995) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1996) Lindsay Davenport / Mary Joe Fernández (1997) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1998) Martina Hingis / Jana Novotná (1999) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2000) Martina Hingis / Mary Pierce (2001) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2002) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2003) Kim Clijsters / Ai Sugiyama (2004) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2005) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2006) Lisa Raymond / Samantha Stosur (2007) Alicia Molik / Mara Santangelo (2008) Anabel Medina Garrigues / Virginia Ruano Pascual (2009) Anabel Medina Garrigues / Virginia Ruano Pascual (2010) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2011) Andrea Hlaváčková / Lucie Hradecká (2012) Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (2013) Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina (2014) Hsieh Su-wei / Peng Shuai Wimbledon (Open Era) ladies' doubles champions (1968) Rosemary Casals / Billie Jean King (1969) Margaret Court / Judy Tegart Dalton (1970) Rosemary Casals / Billie Jean King (1971) Rosemary Casals / Billie Jean King (1972) Billie Jean King / Betty Stöve (1973) Rosemary Casals / Billie Jean King (1974) Evonne Goolagong Cawley / Peggy Michel (1975) Ann Kiyomura / Kazuko Sawamatsu (1976) Chris Evert / Martina Navratilova (1977) Helen Gourlay Cawley / JoAnne Russell (1978) Kerry Melville Reid / Wendy Turnbull (1979) Billie Jean King / Martina Navratilova (1980) Kathy Jordan / Anne Smith (1981) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1982) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1983) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1984) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1985) Kathy Jordan / Elizabeth Sayers Smylie (1986) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1987) Claudia Kohde-Kilsch / Helena Suková (1988) Steffi Graf / Gabriela Sabatini (1989) Jana Novotná / Helena Suková (1990) Jana Novotná / Helena Suková (1991) Larisa Savchenko Neiland / Natalia Zvereva (1992) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1993) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1994) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1995) Jana Novotná / Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1996) Martina Hingis / Helena Suková (1997) Gigi Fernández / Natasha Zvereva (1998) Martina Hingis / Jana Novotná (1999) Lindsay Davenport / Corina Morariu (2000) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2001) Lisa Raymond / Rennae Stubbs (2002) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2003) Kim Clijsters / Ai Sugiyama (2004) Cara Black / Rennae Stubbs (2005) Cara Black / Liezel Huber (2006) Yan Zi / Zheng Jie (2007) Cara Black / Liezel Huber (2008) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2009) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2010) Vania King / Yaroslava Shvedova (2011) Květa Peschke / Katarina Srebotnik (2012) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2013) Hsieh Su-wei / Peng Shuai (2014) Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci US Open women's doubles champions (1968) Maria Bueno / Margaret Court (1969) Françoise Dürr / Darlene Hard (1970) Margaret Court / Judy Tegart Dalton (1971) Rosemary Casals / Judy Tegart Dalton (1972) Françoise Dürr / Betty Stöve (1973) Margaret Court / Virginia Wade (1974) Rosemary Casals / Billie Jean King (1975) Margaret Court / Virginia Wade (1976) Delina Boshoff / Ilana Kloss (1977) Martina Navratilova / Betty Stöve (1978) Billie Jean King / Martina Navratilova (1979) Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull (1980) Billie Jean King / Martina Navratilova (1981) Kathy Jordan / Anne Smith (1982) Rosemary Casals / Wendy Turnbull (1983) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1984) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1985) Claudia Kohde-Kilsch / Helena Suková (1986) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1987) Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (1988) Gigi Fernández / Robin White (1989) Hana Mandlíková / Martina Navratilova (1990) Gigi Fernández / Martina Navratilova (1991) Pam Shriver / Natalia Zvereva (1992) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1993) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario / Helena Suková (1994) Jana Novotná / Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1996) Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva (1997) Lindsay Davenport / Jana Novotná (1998) Martina Hingis / Jana Novotná (1999) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2000) Julie Halard-Decugis / Ai Sugiyama (2001) Lisa Raymond / Rennae Stubbs (2002) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2003) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2004) Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez (2005) Lisa Raymond / Samantha Stosur (2006) Nathalie Dechy / Vera Zvonareva (2007) Nathalie Dechy / Dinara Safina (2008) Cara Black / Liezel Huber (2009) Serena Williams / Venus Williams (2010) Vania King / Yaroslava Shvedova (2011) Liezel Huber / Lisa Raymond (2012) Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (2013) Andrea Hlaváčková / Lucie Hradecká (2014) Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina   Mixed doubles Wimbledon (Open Era) mixed doubles champions (1968) Ken Fletcher / Margaret Court (1969) Fred Stolle / Ann Haydon-Jones (1970) Ilie Năstase / Rosemary Casals (1971) Owen Davidson / Billie Jean King (1972) Ilie Năstase / Rosemary Casals (1973) Owen Davidson / Billie Jean King (1974) Owen Davidson / Billie Jean King (1975) Marty Riessen / Margaret Court (1976) Tony Roche / Françoise Dürr (1977) Bob Hewitt / Greer Stevens (1978) Frew McMillan / Betty Stöve (1979) Bob Hewitt / Greer Stevens (1980) John Austin / Tracy Austin (1981) Frew McMillan / Betty Stöve (1982) Kevin Curren / Anne Smith (1983) John Lloyd / Wendy Turnbull (1984) John Lloyd / Wendy Turnbull (1985) Paul McNamee / Martina Navratilova (1986) Ken Flach / Kathy Jordan (1987) Jeremy Bates / Jo Durie (1988) Sherwood Stewart / Zina Garrison (1989) Jim Pugh / Jana Novotná (1990) Rick Leach / Zina Garrison (1991) John Fitzgerald / Elizabeth Sayers Smylie (1992) Cyril Suk / Larisa Savchenko Neiland (1993) Mark Woodforde / Martina Navratilova (1994) Todd Woodbridge / Helena Suková (1995) Jonathan Stark / Martina Navratilova (1996) Cyril Suk / Helena Suková (1997) Cyril Suk / Helena Suková (1998) Max Mirnyi / Serena Williams (1999) Leander Paes / Lisa Raymond (2000) Donald Johnson / Kimberly Po (2001) Leoš Friedl / Daniela Hantuchová (2002) Mahesh Bhupathi / Elena Likhovtseva (2003) Leander Paes / Martina Navratilova (2004) Wayne Black / Cara Black (2005) Mahesh Bhupathi / Mary Pierce (2006) Andy Ram / Vera Zvonareva (2007) Jamie Murray / Jelena Janković (2008) Bob Bryan / Samantha Stosur (2009) Mark Knowles / Anna-Lena Grönefeld (2010) Leander Paes / Cara Black (2011) Jürgen Melzer / Iveta Benešová (2012) Mike Bryan / Lisa Raymond (2013) Daniel Nestor / Kristina Mladenovic (2014) Nenad Zimonjić / Samantha Stosur US Open mixed doubles champions (1968) Mary Ann Eisel / Peter Curtis (1969) Margaret Court / Marty Riessen (1970) Margaret Court / Marty Riessen (1971) Billie Jean King / Owen Davidson (1972) Margaret Court / Marty Riessen (1973) Billie Jean King / Owen Davidson (1974) Pam Teeguarden / Geoff Masters (1975) Rosemary Casals / Dick Stockton (1976) Billie Jean King / Phil Dent (1977) Betty Stöve / Frew McMillan (1978) Betty Stöve / Frew McMillan (1979) Greer Stevens / Bob Hewitt (1980) Wendy Turnbull / Marty Riessen (1981) Anne Smith / Kevin Curren (1982) Anne Smith / Kevin Curren (1983) Elizabeth Sayers Smylie / John Fitzgerald (1984) Manuela Maleeva / Tom Gullikson (1985) Martina Navrátilová / Heinz Günthardt (1986) Raffaella Reggi / Sergio Casal (1987) Martina Navrátilová / Emilio Sánchez Vicario (1988) Jana Novotná / Jim Pugh (1989) Robin White / Shelby Cannon (1990) Elizabeth Sayers Smylie / Todd Woodbridge (1991) Manon Bollegraf / Tom Nijssen (1992) Nicole Provis / Mark Woodforde (1993) Helena Suková / Todd Woodbridge (1994) Elna Reinach / Patrick Galbraith (1995) Meredith McGrath / Matt Lucena (1996) Lisa Raymond / Patrick Galbraith (1997) Manon Bollegraf / Rick Leach (1998) Serena Williams / Max Mirnyi (1999) Ai Sugiyama / Mahesh Bhupathi (2000) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario / Jared Palmer (2001) Rennae Stubbs / Todd Woodbridge (2002) Lisa Raymond / Mike Bryan (2003) Katarina Srebotnik / Bob Bryan (2004) Vera Zvonareva / Bob Bryan (2005) Daniela Hantuchová / Mahesh Bhupathi (2006) Martina Navrátilová / Bob Bryan (2007) Victoria Azarenka / Max Mirnyi (2008) Cara Black / Leander Paes (2009) Carly Gullickson / Travis Parrott (2010) Liezel Huber / Bob Bryan (2011) Melanie Oudin / Jack Sock (2012) Ekaterina Makarova / Bruno Soares (2013) Andrea Hlaváčková / Max Mirnyi (2014) Sania Mirza / Bruno Soares   Others Tennis players who have completed the Grand Slam or career Grand Slam in singles and/or doubles   Grand Slam (men's singles) 1938: Don Budge 1962: Rod Laver 1969: Rod Laver   Grand Slam (women's singles) 1953: Maureen Connolly 1970: Margaret Court 1988: Steffi Graf   Grand Slam (men's doubles) 1951: Ken McGregor/ Frank Sedgman   Grand Slam (women's doubles) 1960: Maria Bueno 1984: Martina Navratilova/ Pam Shriver 1998: Martina Hingis   Grand Slam (mixed doubles) 1963: Margaret Court/ Ken Fletcher 1965: Margaret Court 1967: Owen Davidson   Career (men's singles) 1933-34-35: Fred Perry 1937-38: Don Budge 1960-61-62: Rod Laver 1961-63-64: Roy Emerson 1992-94-95-99: Andre Agassi 2003-04-09: Roger Federer 2005-08-09-10: Rafael Nadal   Career (women's singles) 1951-52-53: Maureen Connolly 1949-50-51-54: Doris Hart 1951-56-57: Shirley Fry Irvin 1960-62-63: Margaret Court 1966-67-68-72: Billie Jean King 1974-75-82: Chris Evert 1978-81-82-83: Martina Navratilova 1987-88: Steffi Graf 1999-2002-03: Serena Williams 2004-06-08-12: Maria Sharapova   Career (men's doubles) 1935-36-39: Adrian Quist 1948-50-51 Frank Sedgman 1951: Ken McGregor 1953–56: Lew Hoad/ Ken Rosewall 1957-58-59: Neale Fraser 1959-60-62: Roy Emerson 1965–67: John Newcombe/ Tony Roche 1962-64-67-77: Bob Hewitt 1982-84-86-89: John Fitzgerald 1983-87-89: Anders Järryd 1994-95-98: Jacco Eltingh/ Paul Haarhuis 1989-92–93-2000: Mark Woodforde 1992–93-95-2000: Todd Woodbridge 1998-2002-03-05: Jonas Björkman 2003-05-06: Bob Bryan/ Mike Bryan 2002-04-07-08: Daniel Nestor 1999-2006-12: Leander Paes   Career (women's doubles) 1942-46-50: Louise Brough Clapp 1947-48-50-51: Doris Hart 1950-51-57: Shirley Fry Irvin 1956–1957: Althea Gibson 1958–60: Maria Bueno 1961–64: Lesley Turner Bowrey 1961-63-64: Margaret Court 1964-66-69-70: Judy Tegart Dalton 1980–81: Kathy Jordan/ Anne Smith 1975-76-77-80: / Martina Navratilova 1981-82-83-84: Pam Shriver 1989-90-93: Helena Suková 1988–90-91-92: Gigi Fernández 1989-90-91-93: Natasha Zvereva 1989-90-94: Jana Novotná 1996-97-98: Martina Hingis 1999-2000-01: Serena Williams/ Venus Williams 2000-01-06: Lisa Raymond 2012-13-14: Sara Errani/ Roberta Vinci   Career (mixed doubles) 1925-26-27-28 Jean Borotra 1949–51: Doris Hart/ Frank Sedgman 1961-1963: Margaret Court 1962-1963: Ken Fletcher 1965-66-67: Owen Davidson 1967–68: Billie Jean King 1969–75: Marty Riessen 1961-70-77-79: Bob Hewitt 1992–93: Mark Woodforde 1990-93-94-95: Todd Woodbridge 1974-85-2003: Martina Navratilova 2001-02-05: Daniela Hantuchová 1997-99-2005-06: Mahesh Bhupathi 2002-04-08-10: Cara Black Women’s tennis players who won two or more Grand Slam singles titles in one calendar year   Four wins 1953: Maureen Connolly Brinker 1970: Margaret Court 1988: Steffi Graf   Three wins 1928: Helen Wills Moody (FO&WI&US) 1929: Helen Wills Moody (FO&WI&US) 1962: Margaret Court (AO&FO&US) 1965: Margaret Court (AO&WI&US) 1969: Margaret Court (AO&FO&US) 1972: Billie Jean King (FO&WI&US) 1973: Margaret Court (AO&FO&US) 1983: Martina Navratilova (AO&WI&US) 1984: Martina Navratilova (FO&WI&US) 1989: Steffi Graf (AO&WI&US) 1991: Monica Seles (AO&FO&US) 1992: Monica Seles (AO&FO&US) 1993: Steffi Graf (FO&WI&US) 1995: Steffi Graf (FO&WI&US) 1996: Steffi Graf (FO&WI&US) 1997: Martina Hingis (AO&WI&US) 2002: Serena Williams (FO&WI&US)   Two wins 1925: Suzanne Lenglen (FO&WI) 1927: Helen Wills Moody (WI&US) 1930: Helen Wills Moody (FO&WI) 1931: Cilly Aussem (FO&WI) 1932: Helen Wills Moody (FO&WI) 1939: Alice Marble (WI&US) 1946: Pauline Betz Addie (WI&US) 1949: Margaret Osborne duPont (FO&US) 1950: Louise Bough Clapp (AO&WI) 1952: Maureen Connolly Brinker (WI&US) 1954: Maureen Connolly Brinker (FO&WI) 1956: Shirley Fry Irvin (WI&US) 1957: Althea Gibson (WI&US) 1958: Althea Gibson (WI&US) 1959: Maria Bueno (WI&US) 1960: Darlene Hard (FO&US) 1963: Margaret Court (AO&WI) 1964: Margaret Court (AO&FO) 1964: Maria Bueno (WI&US) 1967: Billie Jean King (WI&US) 1968: Billie Jean King (AO&WI) 1971: Evonne Goolagong Cawley (FO&WI) 1974: Chris Evert (FO&WI) 1975: Chris Evert (FO&US) 1976: Chris Evert (WI&US) 1980: Chris Evert (FO&US) 1982: Martina Navratilova (FO&WI) 1982: Chris Evert (AO&US) 1985: Martina Navratilova (AO&WI) 1986: Martina Navratilova (WI&US) 1987: Martina Navratilova (WI&US) 1994: Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (FO&US) 2000: Venus Williams (WI&US) 2001: Jennifer Capriati (AO&FO) 2001: Venus Williams (WI&US) 2003: Serena Williams (AO&WI) 2003: Justine Henin (FO&US) 2006: Amélie Mauresmo (AO&WI) 2007: Justine Henin (FO&US) 2009: Serena Williams (AO&WI) 2010: Serena Williams (AO&WI) 2012: Serena Williams (WI&US) 2013: Serena Williams (FO&US) AO=Australian Open, FO=French Open, WI=Wimbledon, US=US Open

Serena Williams's Achievements Top ten tennis players World rankings – Top ten tennis players as of 27 April 2015 ATP singles ATP doubles WTA singles WTA doubles Novak Djokovic Roger Federer Andy Murray Rafael Nadal Kei Nishikori Milos Raonic Tomáš Berdych David Ferrer Stan Wawrinka Marin Čilić Bob Bryan Mike Bryan Marcelo Melo Vasek Pospisil Nenad Zimonjić Ivan Dodig Daniel Nestor Julien Benneteau Jack Sock Édouard Roger-Vasselin Serena Williams Simona Halep Maria Sharapova Petra Kvitová Caroline Wozniacki Eugenie Bouchard Ana Ivanovic Ekaterina Makarova Agnieszka Radwańska Carla Suárez Navarro Sania Mirza Sara Errani Roberta Vinci Martina Hingis Cara Black Peng Shuai Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina Hsieh Su-wei Kristina Mladenovic Women's Tennis Association: Top ten female singles tennis players from the Americas as of April 27, 2015. 1. Serena Williams (1 ) 2. Eugenie Bouchard (6 1) 3. Venus Williams (16 ) 4. Madison Keys (17 ) 5. Varvara Lepchenko (30 ) 6. Madison Brengle (36 7) 7. Coco Vandeweghe (37 1) 8. Sloane Stephens (38 ) 9. Alison Riske (45 ) 10. Mónica Puig (47 ) Women's Tennis Association: Top American female singles tennis players as of April 27, 2015 1. Serena Williams (1 ) 2. Venus Williams (16 ) 3. Madison Keys (17 ) 4. Varvara Lepchenko (30 ) 5. Madison Brengle (36 7) 5. Coco Vandeweghe (37 1) 6. Sloane Stephens (38 ) 8. Alison Riske (45 ) 9. Lauren Davis (58 ) 10. Christina McHale (64 2) Women's Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 1 doubles players   Martina Navratilova (1984/1990 – 237 w)   Pam Shriver (1985/1986 – 48 w)   Helena Suková (1990/1993 – 68 w)   Jana Novotná (1990/1999 – 67 w)   Gigi Fernández (1991/1995 – 80 w)   Natasha Zvereva (1991/1999 – 124 w)   Larisa Neiland (1992 – 4 w)   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1992/1997 – 111 w)   Lindsay Davenport (1997/2000 – 32 w)   Martina Hingis (1998/1999 – 35 w)   Anna Kournikova (1999/2000 – 10 w)   Corina Morariu (2000 – 7 w)   Lisa Raymond (2000/2012 – 137 w)   Rennae Stubbs (2000 – 3 w)   Julie Halard-Decugis (2000 – 14 w)   Ai Sugiyama (2000/2003 – 45 w)   Paola Suárez (2002/2004 – 87 w)   Kim Clijsters (2003 – 4 w)   Virginia Ruano Pascual (2003/2005 – 65 w)   Cara Black (2005/2010 – 163 w)   Samantha Stosur (2006/2007 – 61 w)   Liezel Huber (2007/2012 – 199 w)   Serena Williams (2010 – 8 w)   Venus Williams (2010 – 8 w)   Gisela Dulko (2010/2011 – 24 w)   Flavia Pennetta (2011 – 18 w)   Květa Peschke (2011 – 10 w)   Katarina Srebotnik (2011 – 10 w)   Sara Errani (2012/2015 – 87 w)   Roberta Vinci (2012/2015 – 110 w)   Peng Shuai (2014 – 20 w)   Hsieh Su-wei (2014 – 5 w)   Sania Mirza (2015 – 1 w) WTA rankings incepted on September 4, 1984 (year first held/year last held – number of weeks (w)) current No. 1 in bold, as of April 13, 2015 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 1 singles players   Chris Evert (1975/1985 – 260 w)   Evonne Goolagong (1976 – 2 w)   Martina Navratilova (1978/1987 – 331 w)   Tracy Austin (1980 – 22 w)   Steffi Graf (1987/1997 – 377 w)  // Monica Seles (1991/1996 – 178 w)   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995 – 12 w)   Martina Hingis (1997/2001 – 209 w)   Lindsay Davenport (1998/2006 – 98 w)   Jennifer Capriati (2001/2002 – 17 w)   Venus Williams (2002 – 11 w)   Serena Williams (2002/2015 – 237 w)   Kim Clijsters (2003/2011 – 20 w)   Justine Henin (2003/2008 – 117 w)   Amélie Mauresmo (2004/2006 – 39 w)   Maria Sharapova (2005/2012 – 21 w)   Ana Ivanovic (2008 – 12 w)   Jelena Janković (2008/2009 – 18 w)   Dinara Safina (2009 – 26 w)   Caroline Wozniacki (2010/2012 – 67 w)   Victoria Azarenka (2012/2013 – 51 w) WTA rankings incepted on November 3, 1975 (year first held/year last held – number of weeks (w)) current No. 1 in bold, as of week of April 20, 2015 Tennis at the Summer Olympics • Olympic Champions in women's singles 1900: Charlotte Cooper 1908: Dorothea Chambers, Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith (indoors) 1912: Marguerite Broquedis, Edith Hannam (indoors) 1920: Suzanne Lenglen 1924: Helen Wills 1988: Steffi Graf 1992: Jennifer Capriati 1996: Lindsay Davenport 2000: Venus Williams 2004: Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008: Elena Dementieva 2012: Serena Williams Tennis at the Summer Olympics • Olympic Champions in women's doubles 1920: Kathleen McKane & Winifred McNair 1924: Hazel Wightman & Helen Wills Moody 1988: Zina Garrison & Pam Shriver 1992 - 1996: Gigi Fernández & Mary Joe Fernández 2000: Serena Williams & Venus Williams 2004: Sun Tiantian & Li Ting 2008 - 2012: Serena Williams & Venus Williams WTA Year-end championships winners singles (1972) Chris Evert (1973) Chris Evert (1974) Evonne Goolagong (1975) Chris Evert (1976) Evonne Goolagong (1977) Chris Evert (1978) Martina Navratilova (1979) Martina Navratilova (1980) Tracy Austin (1981) Martina Navratilova (1982) Sylvia Hanika (1983) Martina Navratilova (1984) Martina Navratilova (1985) Martina Navratilova (1986-1) Martina Navratilova (1986-2) Martina Navratilova (1987) Steffi Graf (1988) Gabriela Sabatini (1989) Steffi Graf (1990) Monica Seles (1991) Monica Seles (1992) Monica Seles (1993) Steffi Graf (1994) Gabriela Sabatini (1995) Steffi Graf (1996) Steffi Graf (1997) Jana Novotná (1998) Martina Hingis (1999) Lindsay Davenport (2000) Martina Hingis (2001) Serena Williams (2002) Kim Clijsters (2003) Kim Clijsters (2004) Maria Sharapova (2005) Amélie Mauresmo (2006) Justine Henin (2007) Justine Henin (2008) Venus Williams (2009) Serena Williams (2010) Kim Clijsters (2011) Petra Kvitová (2012) Serena Williams (2013) Serena Williams (2014) Serena Williams Winners of the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year 2000: Marion Jones* 2001: Cathy Freeman 2002: Jennifer Capriati 2003: Serena Williams 2004: Annika Sörenstam 2005: Kelly Holmes 2006: Janica Kostelić 2007: Yelena Isinbayeva 2008: Justine Henin 2009: Yelena Isinbayeva 2010: Serena Williams 2011: Lindsey Vonn 2012: Vivian Cheruiyot 2013: Jessica Ennis 2014: Missy Franklin 2015: Genzebe Dibaba * Since this award, Jones has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Her award is in doubt. Michigan Women's Hall of Fame   1980–1989 1983 Harriette Simpson Arnow N. Lorraine Beebe Mamie Geraldine Neale Bledsoe Elizabeth Margaret Chandler Mary Stallings Coleman Wilma T. Donahue Grace Eldering Josephine Gomon Martha W. Griffiths Dorothy Haener Laura Smith Haviland Millie Jeffrey Pearl Kendrick Helen W. Milliken Rosa L. Parks Anna Howard Shaw Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Sojourner Truth 1984 Helen J. Claytor Caroline Bartlett Crane Marguerite De Angeli Emma Genevieve Gillette Icie Macy Hoobler Magdelaine Laframboise Martha Longstreet Elly M. Peterson Jessie Pharr Slaton Mary C. Spencer Bertha Van Hoosen 1986 Patricia Boyle Elizabeth C. Crosby Gwen Frostic Elmina R. Lucke Marjorie Swank Matthews Marjorie Peebles-Meyers Mary Chase Perry Stratton Helen Thomas 1987 Marion Isabel Barnhart Patricia Hill Burnett Ethel Calhoun Georgia Emery Betty Ford Rosa Slade Gragg Clara Raven 1988 Louise L. Brown Ethelene Crockett Marcia J. Federbush Fran Harris M. Jane Kay-Nugent Agnes Mary Mansour Helen Martin Sarah Goddard Power 1989 Clara B. Arthur Anna Sutherland Bissell Alexa Canady Anne R. Davidow Bernadine Newsom Denning Isabella Karle Jean Ledwith King Olga Madar Mary Anne Mayo   1990–1999 1990 Emily Helen Butterfield Erma Henderson Dorothy Leonard Judd Elba Lila Morse Fannie M. Richards Emelia Christine Schaub Mary P. Sinclair Merze Tate Delia Villegas Vorhauer 1991 Rachel Andresen Mary Beck Jan BenDor Janet K. Good Jo Jacobs Virginia Cecile Blomer Nordby Dorothy Comstock Riley Edith Mays Swanson 1992 Cora Brown Mary Lou Butcher Sarah Emma Edmonds Violet Temple Lewis Luise Ruth Leismer Mahon Gilda Radner Martha Romayne Seger Ann M. Shafer Sylvia M. Stoesser Lucy Thurman Charleszetta Waddles 1993 Edith Vosburgh Alvord Catherine Carter Blackwell Jean W. Campbell Katherine Hill Campbell Lenna Frances Cooper Roberta A. Griffith Bina West Miller Jeanne Omelenchuk Sippie Wallace Edna Noble White Irene Clark Woodman 1994 Virginia R. Allan Marie-Therese Guyon Cadillac Ruth Carlton Flossie Cohen Bertha A. Daubendiek Genora Johnson Dollinger Flora Hommel Sarah Van Hoosen Jones Aleda E. Lutz Helen Walker McAndrew 1995 Yolanda Alvarado-Ortega Irene M. Auberlin Hilda R. Gage Lucia Voorhees Grimes R. Louise Grooms Odessa Komer Laura Freele Osborn Jacquelin E. Washington 1996 Carrie Frazier Rogers-Brown Anna Clemenc Waunetta McClellan Dominic Margaret Muth Laurence Claudia House Morcom Betsy Graves Reyneau Shirley E. Schwartz Joan Luedders Wolfe 1997 Ellen Burstyn Marion Corwell-Shertzer Four Sisters of Charity Della Goodwin Alice Hamilton Nancy Harkness Love Maryann Mahaffey Sharon E. Sutton Matilda Dodge Wilson 1998 Connie Binsfeld Hilda Patricia Curran Marie Dye Eleanor Josaitis Dorrie Ellen Rosenblatt Ella Merriman Sharp Martha Jean Steinberg Ruth Thompson Lily Tomlin 1999 Patricia L. Beeman Olympia Brown Doris DeDeckere Margaret Drake Elliott Elizabeth Homer Eleonore Hutzel Ella Eaton Kellogg Emily Burton Ketcham Ardeth Platte   2000–2009 2000 Lillian Mellen Genser Loney Clinton Gordon Katherine G. Heideman Dauris Gwendolyn Jackson Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy Marjorie J. Lansing Chaun-Pu Lee Marilyn Fisher Lundy Katharine Dexter McCormick Kathleen N. Straus Clarissa M. Young 2001 Cora Reynolds Anderson Lucile E. Belen Theresa Maxis Duchemin Aretha Franklin Francie Kraker Goodridge Marian Bayoff Ilitch Mary Ellen Riordan Joesphine Stern Weiner 2002 Hortense Golden Canady Julia Wheelock Freeman May Stocking Knaggs Naomi Long Madgett Lucille Hanna McCollough Lana Pollack Martha Louise Rayne Muriel Dorothy Ross 2003 Mary Agnes Blair Verne Burbridge Nellie Cuellar Alice Scanlan Kocel Joyce Lewis Kornbluh Eliza Seaman Leggett Ida Lippman Marion 'Babe' Ruth Bernice "B" Steadman Pamela Withrow Ruth Zweifler 2004 Geraldine Bledsoe Ford Jennifer Mulhern Granholm Lystra Gretter Florine Mark Cathy McClelland Constance Mayfield Rourke 2005 Margaret M. Chiara Eva Lois Evans Georgia A. Lewis Johnson Lida Holmes Mattman Olivia Maynard Deborah Stabenow Caroline Thrun Margaret Sellers Walker Elizabeth Weaver 2006 Cynthia Yao Mary Esther Daddazio Margery Feliksa Nancy Hammond Viola Liuzzo Marge Piercy Dora Hall Stockman Martha Strickland Clark Helen Hornbeck Tanner 2007 Mary Brown Gertrude Buck Emma Cole Haifa Fakhouri Carolyn Geisel Jane Briggs Hart Abigail Rogers Kathleen Wilbur Woman's Hospital Association (charter members) 2008 Carol Atkins Patricia Cuza Carol King Vicki Neiberg James Johnston Schoolcraft Leta Snow Mary Francilene Van de Vyver 2009 Carol Atkins Grace Lee Boggs Margaret Chandler Ruth Ellis Edna Ferber Glenda Lappan Kay Givens McGowan Elizabeth Phillips Jessica Rickert Betty Tableman Marlo Thomas   2010–2019 2010 Mary Aikey Laura Carter Callow Augusta Jane Chapin Sandra Laser Draggoo Annie Etheridge Sherrill Freeborough Dorean Marguerite Hurley Koenig Terry McMillan Edith Munger Cynthia J. Pasky 2011 Lois A. Bader Jumana Judeh Marilyn Kelly Valeria Lipczynski Edelmira Lopez Kary Moss Rose Mary C. Robinson Patricia Saunders 2012 Gladys Beckwith Patricia Caruso Mary Jane Dockeray Judith Karandjeff Les Meres et Debutantes Club of Greater Lansing Serena Williams L. Anna Ballard Eva McCall Hamilton Mary E. McCoy 2013 Elizabeth Bauer Judith Levin Cantor Paula Cunningham Joan Jackson Johnson Gladys McKenney Marina von Neumann Whitman Con-Con Eleven Elizabeth Eaglesfield Harriet Quimby 2014 Elizabeth Lehman Belen MaryLee Davis Jeanne Findlater Dorothy A. Johnson Julie Krone Mary Carmelita Manning Barbara Roberts Mason Marylou Olivarez Mason Andra M. Rush Mary Ellen Sheets Lucille Farrier Stickel Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 1931: Helene Madison 1932: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1933: Helen Jacobs 1934: Virginia Van Wie 1935: Helen Wills 1936: Helen Stephens 1937: Katherine Rawls 1938: Patty Berg 1939: Alice Marble 1940: Alice Marble 1941: Betty Hicks 1942: Gloria Callen 1943: Patty Berg 1944: Ann Curtis 1945: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1946: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1947: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1948: Fanny Blankers-Koen 1949: Marlene Hagge 1950: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1951: Maureen Connolly 1952: Maureen Connolly 1953: Maureen Connolly 1954: Babe Didrikson Zaharias 1955: Patty Berg 1956: Pat McCormick 1957: Althea Gibson 1958: Althea Gibson 1959: Maria Bueno 1960: Wilma Rudolph 1961: Wilma Rudolph 1962: Dawn Fraser 1963: Mickey Wright 1964: Mickey Wright 1965: Kathy Whitworth 1966: Kathy Whitworth 1967: Billie Jean King 1968: Peggy Fleming 1969: Debbie Meyer 1970: Chi Cheng 1971: Evonne Goolagong 1972: Olga Korbut 1973: Billie Jean King 1974: Chris Evert 1975: Chris Evert 1976: Nadia Comăneci 1977: Chris Evert 1978: Nancy Lopez 1979: Tracy Austin 1980: Chris Evert 1981: Tracy Austin 1982: Mary Decker 1983: Martina Navratilova 1984: Mary Lou Retton 1985: Nancy Lopez 1986: Martina Navratilova 1987: Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1988: Florence Griffith-Joyner 1989: Steffi Graf 1990: Beth Daniel 1991: Monica Seles 1992: Monica Seles 1993: Sheryl Swoopes 1994: Bonnie Blair 1995: Rebecca Lobo 1996: Amy Van Dyken 1997: Martina Hingis 1998: Pak Se-ri 1999: United States women's national soccer team 2000: Marion Jones 2001: Jennifer Capriati 2002: Serena Williams 2003: Annika Sörenstam 2004: Annika Sörenstam 2005: Annika Sörenstam 2006: Lorena Ochoa 2007: Lorena Ochoa 2008: Candace Parker 2009: Serena Williams 2010: Lindsey Vonn 2011: Abby Wambach 2012: Gabby Douglas 2013: Serena Williams 2014: Mo'ne Davis Best Female Athlete ESPY Award winners 1993: Seles 1994: Krone 1995: Blair 1996: Lobo 1997: Van Dyken 1998: Hamm 1999: Holdsclaw 2000: Graf 2001: Jones 2002: V. Williams 2003: V. Williams 2004: Taurasi 2005: Sörenstam 2006: Sörenstam 2007: Mowatt 2008: Parker 2009: Liukin 2010: Vonn 2011: Vonn 2012: Griner 2013: S. Williams 2014: Rousey

Women's Tennis Association: Top American female singles tennis players as of April 27, 2015 1. Serena Williams (1 ) 2. Venus Williams (16 ) 3. Madison Keys (17 ) 4. Varvara Lepchenko (30 ) 5. Madison Brengle (36 7) 5. Coco Vandeweghe (37 1) 6. Sloane Stephens (38 ) 8. Alison Riske (45 ) 9. Lauren Davis (58 ) 10. Christina McHale (64 2)

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 12581465 LCCN: n99017475 ISNI: 0000 0001 1459 8590 GND: 128464100 BNF: cb15007358p (data)