a biography about serena williams

Serena Williams

Who Is Serena Williams?

Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player who has held the top spot in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings numerous times over her stellar career. Williams began intensive tennis training at age three. She won her first major championship in 1999 and completed the career Grand Slam in 2003. Along with her individual success, Serena has teamed with sister Venus Williams to win a series of doubles titles. In 2017, she defeated her big sister at the Australian Open to claim the 23rd Grand Slam singles title of her career.

Early Life and Family

Serena Jameka Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard and Oracene Williams. The youngest of Richard's five daughters, Serena and her sister Venus would grow up to become great tennis champions.

Serena's father — a former sharecropper from Louisiana determined to see his two youngest girls succeed — used what he'd gleaned from tennis books and videos to instruct Serena and Venus on how to play the game. At the age of three, practicing on a court not far from the family's new Compton, California, home, Serena withstood the rigors of daily two-hour practices from her father.

The fact that the family had relocated to Compton was no accident. With its high rate of gang activity, Richard wanted to expose his daughters to the ugly possibilities of life "if they did not work hard and get an education." In this setting, on courts that were riddled with potholes and sometimes missing nets, Serena and Venus cut their teeth on the game of tennis and the requirements for persevering in a tough climate.

By 1991, Serena was 46-3 on the junior United States Tennis Association tour and ranked first in the 10-and-under division. Sensing his girls needed better instruction to become successful professionals, he moved his family again — this time to Florida. There, Richard let go of some of his coaching responsibilities, but not the management of Serena's and Venus' career. Wary of his daughters burning out too quickly, he scaled back their junior tournament schedule.

READ MORE: Serena and Venus Williams: How Their Father Made Them Tennis Stars

The Williams Sisters

Serena and her older sister Venus were groomed for a tennis career from the age of three years old by their father. With their signature style and play, Venus and Serena changed the look of their sport. Their sheer power and athletic ability overwhelmed opponents, and their sense of style and presence made them standout celebrities on the court. The close-knit sisters lived together for more than a dozen years in a gated Palm Beach Gardens enclave in Florida, but they went their separate ways after Serena bought a mansion in nearby Jupiter in December 2013.

In 1999, Serena beat out her sister Venus in their race to the family's first Grand Slam win when she captured the U.S. Open title. It set the stage for a run of high-powered, high-profile victories for both Williams sisters.

In 2008, Serena and Venus teamed up to capture a second women's doubles Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games. The next year, Serena and Venus purchased shares of the Miami Dolphins to become the first African American women to own part of an NFL team.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Serena claimed her fourth overall Olympic gold medal by teaming with sister Venus to defeat Czech Republic stars Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in women's doubles.

Seeking to add to her hardware collection in the summer of 2015, Williams had to overcome big sister Venus to advance past the fourth round at Wimbledon. A few days later, she defeated Garbine Muguruza in the final to claim her second career "Serena Slam" and become the oldest Grand Slam singles champion in the Open era.

At the 2015 U.S. Open, Williams again squared off with Venus in a tough quarterfinal matchup, this time pulling away in the deciding third set. The outcome left her two wins shy of the calendar year Grand Slam, a feat accomplished by just three women in the sport's history. But it was not to be. In a shocking upset, unseeded Roberta Vinci, ranked No. 43 in the world, dashed Williams' quest by pulling out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win in the semifinals.

Just hours after her singles win at Wimbledon in 2016, Serena and Venus won the doubles championship, their sixth Wimbledon win together.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the Williams sisters experienced a shocking upset when they were bounced out of the first round of women's doubles at the Rio Olympics by Czech duo Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova. The Williams sisters had originally been seeded as no. 1, had an Olympic record of 15-0, and had won gold three times previously.

Williams scored a historic victory at the 2017 Australian Open, winning her 23rd Grand Slam title after defeating her sister Venus, 6-4 6-4. With her 23rd win, she surpassed Steffi Graf's total and captured the world number one ranking.

Reflecting on her victory, Williams credited her sister as an inspiration. "I would really like to take this moment to congratulate Venus, she is an amazing person," she said. "There is no way I would be at 23 without her. There is no way I would be at one without her. She is my inspiration, she is the only reason. I am standing here today and the only reason that the Williams sisters exist."

’The Serena Slam’

In 1995 Serena turned pro. Two years later, she was already No. 99 in the world rankings — up from No. 304 just 12 months before. A year later, she graduated high school and almost immediately inked a $12 million shoe deal with Puma.

In 2002, Serena won the French Open, the U.S. Open, and Wimbledon, defeating sister Venus in the finals of each tournament. She captured her first Australian Open in 2003, making her one of only six women in the Open era to complete a career Grand Slam. The win also fulfilled her desire to hold all four major titles simultaneously to comprise what she'd dubbed "The Serena Slam."

Burnout & Comeback

In August 2003, Serena underwent knee surgery, and in September her half-sister Yetunde Price was murdered in Los Angeles, California. Three years later, Serena seemed burned out. Plagued by injuries, and just a general lack of motivation to stay fit or compete at the same level she once had, Serena saw her tennis ranking slump to 139.

Serena credited her faith as a Jehovah's Witness, as well as a life-changing journey she made to West Africa, for renewing her pride and competitive fire. In 2008, she won the U.S. Open. By 2009, Williams reclaimed her place atop the world's rankings, winning both the 2009 Australian Open singles (for the fourth time) and Wimbledon 2009 singles (for the third time). She also won the doubles matches at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon that year.

Williams made headlines in September 2009, when she blasted a lineswoman for a foot-fault called near the end of a semifinal loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open. The profanity-laced outburst included finger pointing and, according to the lineswoman, an alleged threat from Serena against her life.

Williams downplayed what happened, refuting the allegation that she'd threatened the woman. But the incident did not go over well with the tennis-viewing public, nor the U.S. Tennis Association, which fined her $10,000 on the spot. Two months later, she was placed on two-year probation and ordered to pay another $82,500 to the Grand Slam committee for the episode, the largest punishment ever levied against a tennis player.

By early 2010, Senena was back on track, winning the Australian Open singles and doubles matches as well as her fourth Wimbledon singles championship.

Injuries and Retirement Speculation

In 2011, Serena suffered a series of health scares after doctors found a blood clot in one of her lungs, which kept her away from tennis for several months. Following several procedures, including one to remove a hematoma, speculation rose as to whether Williams would retire from the sport.

Serena’s health improved by September 2011, however, and she looked like her old dominant self at the U.S. Open before falling to Samantha Stosur in the finals.

Williams stumbled badly at the 2012 French Open, enduring a first-round loss for the first time at a major tournament. But she was back in top form in London in July 2012, defeating 23-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska in an emotional three sets to claim her fifth Wimbledon singles title and first major championship in two years.

At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Serena beat Maria Sharapova to take her first gold medal in women's singles.

15th and 16th Grand Slam Titles

Serena continued her winning streak to her next Grand Slam event. In September 2012, she beat out rival Victoria Azarenka to take the singles title at the U.S. Open. According to USA Today , Williams wasn't sure that she'd emerge victorious. "I honestly can't believe I won. I was really preparing my runner-up speech, because I thought, 'Man, she's playing so great.'"

By this time, Serena had captured 15 Grand Slam singles titles and 13 Grand Slam doubles titles. "I would like to leave a mark," Serena once said about her standing in the tennis world. "I think obviously I will, due to the fact that I'm doing something different in tennis. But I don't think I could ever reach something like a Martina Navratilova — I don't think I'd ever play that long — but who knows? I think I'll leave a mark regardless."

In June 2013, Serena took her second French Open title — as well as her 16th Grand Slam singles title — in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over defending champion Sharapova. "I'm still a little bit upset about that loss last year," Serena said in an interview with ESPN following the match. "But it's all about, for me, how you recover. I think I've always said a champion isn't about how much they win, but it's about how they recover from their downs, whether it's an injury or whether it's a loss."

2013 Wimbledon Loss and U.S. Open Win

Nearly one month later, Serena competed at Wimbledon, where she suffered a shocking loss (6-2, 1-6, 6-4) in the fourth round to Germany's Sabine Lisicki, the No. 23 seed.

Her career-best 34-match winning streak over, Serena told Sports Illustrated , "I don't think it's a huge shock. [Lisicki] is a great player. Her ranking has no effect on what she should be. She should be ranked higher. She just has a super, super game to play well on grass."

At the 2013 U.S. Open, Serena made a strong showing. She knocked out her younger rival Sloane Stephens in the fourth round before upending Azarenka to clinch the U.S. Open title. It was the second year in a row that the pair had faced off in the finals.

20th Grand Slam

Serena clinched her third straight and sixth overall U.S. Open singles title in 2014 by defeating her good friend Caroline Wozniacki. Her winning ways carried into the new year, as she beat Sharapova to claim the 2015 Australian Open championship. At the French Open in June, Serena managed to overcome illness to win the tournament for the third time and claim her 20th Grand Slam singles title, good for third place all-time.

"When I was a little girl, in California, my father and my mother wanted me to play tennis," she told the crowd in French after her victory. "And now I'm here, with 20 Grand Slam titles."

2016 Losses and Wins

Serena opened 2016 by advancing to the Australian Open final, where she lost in three sets to Angelique Kerber. After notching career WTA title No. 70 with a win at the Italian Open, she advanced to a French Open final rematch with Muguruza, but this time succumbed to the Spanish player in straight sets.

On July 9, 2016, Serena found her way back to victory, defeating Kerber 7-5, 6-3 at Wimbledon and winning her 22nd grand slam title. With her historic win, Serena tied Steffi Graf for the most major championships in the Open era of professional tennis, which started in 1968.

"I have definitely had some sleepless nights with a lot of stuff, coming so close and feeling it and not being able to get there," Serena told reporters. "This tournament I came in with a different mindset. In Melbourne I thought I played well but Angelique played great, and better. So I knew going into this one I needed to be calm and be confident and play the tennis I've been playing for well over a decade."

At the 2016 U.S. Open, Serena suffered another surprising defeat, leaving the competition early after she was defeated by Karolina Pliskova in their semifinal match. With the loss, she also gave up the No. 1 ranking which she'd held for 186 weeks.

23rd Grand Slam, Pregnancy and Birth

Serena went on to clinch the 2017 Australian Open to win her 23rd Grand Slam title. Later that year, she revealed she was two months pregnant during the game. She gave birth to her daughter in September and returned to the courts in late December 2017, hoping to shake off the rust in time to defend her Australian Open title.

However, Williams withdrew from the opening Grand Slam tournament in early 2018, noting she wasn't quite ready yet after the birth of her daughter in September. "I can compete—but I don't want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time," she said.

Serena finally returned to competition on February 11, teaming up with Venus for a doubles match in Fed Cup play. Clad in her "Wakanda-inspired catsuit," Williams looked to be rounding into form at the French Open, before pulling out with a pectoral injury prior to her eagerly anticipated fourth-round match against Sharapova. Recovering from the setback, she proceeded to march through the Wimbledon women's draw in July, her run ending with a loss to Kerber in the final.

At the end of the month, just before a match against Johanna Konta at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, Serena learned that the man who murdered her half-sister had been paroled three years short of his full sentence. She subsequently suffered a lopsided defeat, and later told Time how heavily the news weighed on her during the match.

The star athlete was back in the news in late August when French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli said he was instituting a new dress code at the French Open to prevent the reappearance of the notorious catsuit. After insisting she had no problem with the ruling, Williams went on to wear a custom-designed tutu for the start of U.S. Open play, in which she easily dispatched her early competition en route to a third-round matchup with big sister Venus.

2018 U.S. Open and 2019 Runner-up Finishes

Just one year after giving birth, Serena was back in top form at the 2018 U.S. Open. During the final match against Japan's Naomi Osaka, Williams got in a heated dispute with the umpire after he determined that her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, was giving her hand signals from the stands, so the umpire gave her a coaching violation.

Serena denied any cheating and accused him of sexism and attacking her character. "You owe me an apology!" she said. She then got a point penalty for smashing her racket and a penalty for verbal abuse. Osaka won the match, 6-2, 6-4, and Williams was later fined $17,000 for the incident.

At the 2019 Australian Open, the site of her last Grand Slam crown, Serena played her way into a quarterfinal match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. However, she lost despite being up 5-1 in the third set, a stunning collapse for a champion known for her nerves of steel.

A few months later, Serena was outplayed in a third-round French Open loss to 20-year-old American Sofia Kenen. She got back on track and advanced to the Wimbledon final, before suffering a straight-set loss to Romania's Simona Halep. Serena then breezed through her draw at the 2019 U.S. Open but was unable to overcome 19-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu in the final.

Although she finished the year without a Grand Slam win, Williams earned a consolation prize by being named the AP Female Athlete of the Decade.

2020 U.S. Open and 2021 Australian Open

Taking a medical time out after a third-set point during the semifinals on September 10, 2020, Williams called over her trainer while clutching her left ankle. She eventually lost to Victoria Azarenka, 1-6, 6-3 and 6-3.

Williams and Osaka faced off again in the semifinal of the 2021 Australian Open, with Osaka winning 6-3, 6-4.

Grand Slams

Over the course of her career, Serena Williams has won a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles, beginning in 1999 with the U.S. Open title. Her most recent victory came with the 2017 Australian Open when she surpassed Steffi Graf ’s record for most wins in the Open era.

Husband and Daughter

In December 2016, Williams became engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. On November 16, 2017, Williams and Ohanian were married at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Serena wore a stunning Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen dress, and the list of celebrity guests in attendance included Beyoncé , Kim Kardashian West and Eva Longoria .

In April 2017, Williams hinted that she was pregnant in a post on Snapchat showing her baby belly with the caption "20 weeks," though the posting was deleted a few minutes later.

Williams was indeed pregnant, and she gave birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. on September 1, 2017. The tennis great posted a photo with her baby on Instagram and shared the journey of her pregnancy in a video posted on her website and on YouTube.

In the cover story for the February 2018 edition of Vogue , Williams revealed the major health complications that came with giving birth to Alexis Olympia. After undergoing an emergency cesarean section, Williams experienced sudden shortness of breath, leading to the discovery of blood clots in her lungs. Additionally, doctors found a large hematoma in her abdomen that had been caused by hemorrhaging at the site of her C-section.

Following multiple surgeries, Williams was able to return home after a week. However, she was then unable to get out of bed for another six weeks, leaving her feeling helpless at times when it came to tending to her newborn. Despite the toll it took on her emotions, she told Vogue she was willing to consider having more children, but understandably was in no rush to do so.

TV, Books & Fashion

Proving to have much more than just tennis clout, Serena expanded her brand into film, television, and fashion. She developed her own Aneres line of clothing, and in 2002 People magazine selected her as one of its 25 Most Intriguing People.

Essence magazine later called her one of the country's 50 Most Inspiring African Americans. She's also made television appearances, and lent her voice to shows such as The Simpsons .

Seeking to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged youth around the world, the tennis star formed the Serena Williams Foundation and built schools in Africa.

In 2010, Williams had released an autobiography, Queen of the Court .

Starting in May 2018, HBO released the first of a five-chapter doc series on Williams called Being Serena . Around that time, the athlete-entrepreneur launched a new eponymous clothing line.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Serena Williams
• Birth Year: 1981
• Birth date: September 26, 1981
• Birth State: Michigan
• Birth City: Saginaw
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: American professional tennis player Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and several Olympic gold medals.
• Astrological Sign: Libra

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Serena Williams Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/athletes/serena-williams
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: April 23, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• I'm a perfectionist. I'm pretty much insatiable. I feel there's so many things I can improve on.

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN COMPTON

As the world knows, Serena is more than a record-smashing, boundary-breaking tennis champion. Her achievements, on and off the court, make her one of the most recognizable names and faces in the world – the G.O.A.T.

Serena’s lifelong passion for design led her to fashion school, which she attended in between winning Grand Slams. In 2018, she launched her own clothing line, S by Serena, designed to empower people to look and feel their absolute best. For Serena, jewelry and fashion go hand-in-hand, and she launched her eponymous jewelry line in 2019. Her designs are inspired by strong, confident women, and celebrate life’s authentic milestones.

Focused on investing in companies that embrace diverse leadership and opportunity, Serena is effecting change in the financial investments sector with her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures. Serena has also flexed her star power in the media and entertainment worlds with roles in movies, series, music videos, and more. Her 2018 award-winning docuseries, Being Serena, continues to inspire people around the world.

At the end of the day, family is Serena’s #1 priority. As the youngest of five girls, she comes from a loving and supportive family. Now, her daughter Olympia is the center of her world and part of her everyday - from business meetings to Disney dance parties.

OFF THE COURT

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Serena Williams Biography Facts, Childhood, Personal Life

Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player. She is one of the many names that ring a bell in the exciting game of lawn tennis. By the dint of her sheer achievements, Serena Williams is arguably the all-time great women tennis player. With an Open Era record of 23 grand slam singles titles to her name, she’s definitely one female tigress to look out for in the game. Strong, swift, and versatile. Blessed with incredible skills, every single swing of her racket is a potential winning point. We examine the indebt life, wins and defeats of this glorified sports character in our Serena Williams biography facts, childhood and personal life. Highlights include her achievements and awards.

Table of Contents

Serena Williams Biography Facts, Age, Zodiac

Serena williams childhood and early life.

Serena Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price (now divorced). She was the youngest of five girls. She grew up in the dusty Los Angeles suburb of Compton, wherein her father was running a private security firm. She picked up her love for the sport at the tender age of three, practising on a court not far from the family’s home alongside her sister Venus. Serena had two-hour a day practices with her father. Her potential to become great in the game, could not be over-looked and soon thereafter, she started attending the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who polished her in-born skills and talent.

By 1991, she had scored 46-3 on the United States Tennis Association Junior tour and ranked first in the 10-and-under division. The family moved to Florida. However, her father pulled her and sister Venus out of the game, sensing his girls needed better instruction to become successful professionals and the demanding schedule of the game may burn them out quickly.

Serena Williams Tennis Career

Serena went professional at the age of 14, against her parent’s wish.  At that age, she entered her first professional tournament after some setbacks by the WTA as a result of age issues in a prior event. Serena was ousted out of her first professional tournament after winning just two games.

After staying out of action in 1996, Serena return to the court was well received as she defeated prominent top 10 players, which earned her the 99 th spot at the end of 1997.

1998, saw Serena and her sister, Venus, begin their journey to the peak of tennis after they won their first professional titles in doubles. At the end of 1998, Serena had catapulted to the 29 th spot in the singles rank. After losing in the third round of the Australian Open, a determined Serena strove hard to secure her first Professional singles titles, the Open Gaz de France. She also went on to win the IGA Super thrift classic with her sister, becoming the first sisters to win a professional tournament in the same week.

By 2000, after series of lost and defeats, even failing to defend her titles in Paris and Indiana wells, she made up for those losses by picking up a gold medal in doubles alongside her sister at the Sydney Olympics.

Early 2002, injuries cut short her playing times as she had to retire from the semi-final match at the Medibank International Sydney and later withdrew from the Australian Open, upon returning from injury, she grabbed the Scottsdale, Arizona and her first Master title in the process becoming one of three players to defeat the world’s top 3 ranked players at one tournament, beating No. 3, Martina Hingis, in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Venus her sister in the semi-finals, and No. 1 Capriati, in the final. Later at Wimbledon, she defeated her sister Venus to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first time in her career which resulted in her climbing to the top spot rank of World No. 1 becoming the third African-American to hold that rank. She won three Grand Slam titles that year.

Again she fell in the deep waters of injury and got sidelined out of action for a period of eight months. She made a triumphant return in March 2004 and clinch the NASDAQ-100 Open title in Miami. She later went on to win the China Open.

During the 2005 Australian Open, the media made up discouraging suggestions stating Serena and her sister Venus were becoming a declining force in the game due to Venus’s early exit in the tournament but that didn’t steer off a determined Serena as she proves the media all wrong and went on to win her second Australian Open title defeating top seed, Davenport in the final. This win shot her to the No. 2 spot. The rest of the 2005 season filled with injuries, withdrawals and setbacks for Serena.

2006 was much more a tough year for Serena. She suffers from depression and stayed out of pro tennis for six months. She cut off and shut herself from the world for a period, seeing a therapist daily. But after meeting with a young girl who happens to be a die-hard fan of Serena she felt inspire and returned back to the court. She returns back to claim her third Australian Open and overall eight Grand Slam singles title despite not being seeded, overcoming mental, emotional and physical obstacles to do that. She dedicated the title to her late half-sister Yetunde. She won another three singles title at Bangalore and a fifth Miami title tying Steffi Graf for the most singles title won at this tournament. She picks up the gold medal in doubles alongside her sister at the Beijing Olympics.

She won her 10 th Grand Slam singles title at the 2009 Australian Open in just 59 minutes a rare feat which returned her to the No. 1 spot and her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women’s sport. She was named best female athlete of that year.

In 2015 at the Miami Open, she recorded her 700 th match win in her career by defeating Sabine Lisicki and became the eight woman in the Open Era to do so. She completed her famous “Serena Slam” i:e winning all four Grand Slams in a row at the 2015 Wimbledon Championship, winning her sixth Wimbledon and 21 st Grand Slam singles title overall.

The year 2016, she lost in the Australian Open and French Open finals. But she bounces back winning the Wimbledon singles tournament. She lost her No. 1 ranking.

2017 started on a promising note for Serena as she defeated her sister Venus Williams to win the Australian Open. It was the 23rd Grand Slam singles title of her career. She was eight-weeks pregnant when she won the Australian Open. On account of her pregnancy, she took a break from the court.

In early 2018, she pulled out from the opening Grand Slam tournament, stating she wasn’t ready yet to return to the court after the birth of her daughter in September. However, she returned to competition on February 11, one year after giving birth and made it to finals of the 2018 US Open. She lost the final match to Japan’s Naomi Osaka. Osaka won the match 6-2 6-4.

Serena Williams Personal Life

• In 2010, she broke up with rapper common and put an end to their romantic relationship.
• 2016, she announces her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. She gave birth to a girl on September 1, 2017. She named her Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
• November 17 2017, she walked down the aisle and tied the knot with longtime fiancé Alexis Ohanian.

Serena Williams Awards and Achievements

Serena has 39 Grand Slam titles to her name: 23 in singles, 14 in women’s doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles.

Grand Slam Single Wins

• Australian Open (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017)
• French Open (2002, 2013, 2015)
• Wimbledon (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016)
• US Open (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)

Grand Slam Doubles Wins

• Australian Open (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010)
• French Open (1999, 2010)
• Wimbledon (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016)
• US Open (1999, 2010)

Serena holds the record of winning the most women’s singles matches at the Grand Slams.

SEE MORE: Biography facts and profile of famous tennis players

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Women who changed sport: Serena Williams' unbending will to win made her a global icon - and record-setting star 

The 23-time major champion set record after record in her nearly three-decade-long career, charting a new path for herself - and setting up the generations to follow her.

On a sticky Friday night in early September of 2022, you could argue that Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open had never been louder, with some 23,000 roaring their support for Serena Williams as she contested what would ultimately be her final professional tennis match.

It was 23 years nearly to the day since Williams, then just 17, had won her maiden major title at the 1999 US Open, the first of what would be a history-making 23 Grand Slam titles, the most in the modern era among women.

As Williams waved farewell to the Queens crowd and to the sport that she had changed forever over two-and-a-half decades, she harkened back to the beginning chapters of her unlikely path, thanking her parents - Oracene Price and Richard Williams - for what they had created: "It all started with my parents," she said on court through tears. "And they deserve everything."

But while father Richard had famously touted his daughters Serena and Venus Williams to be future world No.1s, their impact across the game, with 48 major titles and five Olympic golds between them, will be felt for generations to come.

Their one-name status on a global level has helped to spark the next (and next) generation of Black champions from the U.S., including major winners Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens as well as Top 10 stars Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe - among others.

"They're the reason why I have this trophy today, to be honest,” Gauff said in 2023 of Venus and Serena after winning her own maiden US Open. “They have allowed me to believe in this dream... all the things that they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this.”

By the time Serena walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium that night in 2022, her impact wasn't just on Black players or aspiring tennis champions: She had become a force across sport as a whole - as well as a cultural symbol for what an unbending will to win and what plain hard work can make happen. For anyone.

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Serena Williams: The little sister that could

The family Williams origin story is a well-known one: After Richard, their father, watched Virginia Ruzici win the 1978 Roland-Garros title and receive a winner's cheque of $20,000, he set out for his two youngest daughters, Venus and Serena, to become tennis champions themselves.

What ensued was what many have called the most unlikely sport story of all time: Two Black sisters from Compton, California, zig-zagging their way onto the professional women's tennis tour to become iconic champions - just as their father had predicted.

"[There] are the four qualities all champions [have], doesn't matter how old or how young they are," said Richard Williams in 1999 at the Miami Open , after Venus and Serena faced off in a final for the first time. "Venus and Serena demonstrated that the first time we went out [on court]. I knew they were champions."

After Serena won that aforementioned first major in the family in 1999, it was actually Venus who dominated over the next couple of years on tour, claiming the 2000 and 2001 titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open, while also winning women's singles gold at Sydney 2000 , where she and Serena would pair up for the Olympic doubles title.

But years of being little sister eventually served Serena on court, too: Between 2002 and 2003 she won her first (of two) "Serena Slams", capturing four consecutive majors and launching herself to world No.1, a position she would hold at various times over the next 15 years for some 319 weeks.

While she and Venus would win doubles gold at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 , they'd capture another 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles - it would be Serena that would skyrocket herself into another stratosphere on the singles court, winning 19 of their 31 head-to-head match ups and collecting 73 singles titles, her final trophy hoist coming at Auckland in 2020 that also marked a first for the I've-done-it-all champion: First as a mum.

Serena's lasting legacy - and what comes next

But to contextualise what Serena did on court is impossible without also reflecting on her out-sized impact off the court, too. For much of the mid-2000s, Serena - who had claimed five of eight majors between 2002-03 - won just two Grand Slams from 2004 to 2007, often criticised for not playing enough tennis.

She was "moonlighting outside of tennis", explained TIME Magazine in 2022. That moonlighting included acting, a reality series with Venus, magazine covers, music videos and much, much more.

While some questioned the off-court schedule as "distracting", Williams was re-writing the playbook, a move that would be bolstered by her longevity and late-career successes, including a pair of Olympic golds as well as 10 major singles titles after the age of 30 - an age that many previous superstars had hung up their rackets.

Later in her career, Williams approached a myriad of social issues head on, including in 2015 when she returned to the WTA 1000 at Indian Wells 14 years after she was booed by a largely White crowd in an episode that oozed with racism.

"I just felt like it was time," Williams told reporters upon return , making a run to the semi-finals. "[This] was a wonderful day for me, for women's tennis, for tennis in general... and for everyone."

Williams even sought to change the culture around "retirement" in pro sports, writing in Vogue in the summer of 2022 that she was "evolving away" from tennis: "I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis," she wrote. "Toward other things that are important to me."

What are those things? For now, it includes motherhood, investing in female- and BIPOC-owned business ventures, working with her sponsorship partners, and living life away from the tennis grind, having given birth to a second daughter, Adira, in August of 2023.

"For me, tennis has been such a huge part of my life, I can't imagine not being involved in tennis," she said in her final US Open press conference. "I don't know what that involvement is yet. I think it means so much to me in my life, and I've had so many amazing moments, that I don't see a future without it.

"What's my involvement? I have no idea."

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Venus and serena’s decades-long rivalry: 5 things to know, serena williams: how life after tennis is treating me, serena williams' life now: author, investor, mum - and eyeing a comeback , serena williams wins singles gold at london 2012, how well do you know: serena williams.

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Serena Williams

Biographical information

Serena Williams is often considered the GOAT of women’s tennis. Her Olympic record is but a blip on her overall dominance of tennis in the 21st century. She won four Olympic gold medals, with a singles win in 2012 and three doubles gold medals in 2000 2008, and 2012, playing with her sister, Venus . Serena also played singles and doubles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Through 2022 Serena Williams had won 23 Grand Slam tournaments, with seven wins at the Australian Open, three wins at the French Open, seven Wimbledon titles, and six US Open victories. Her 23 major championships rank second all-time among women, trailing only Margaret Court’s 24, but Court won many of those in the Australian Open in an era when few top players traveled to Australia to compete in that event. Serena’s only challenger for dominance in Grand Slams is likely Steffi Graf , who won 22 Grand Slams, including a 1988 Golden Slam, when she won all four majors and an Olympic gold medal.

Williams won almost $100 million in prize money during her career. Including all tournaments, she won 73 WTA events. She rarely played doubles outside of the Grand Slams, yet she won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, winning all of them while playing with Venus. She did win six other WTA doubles titles, all but one with Venus, the other while playing with Alexandra Stevenson. Serena also won the 1998 Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles, playing with Max Mirnyi .

Williams held the #1 ranking for 316 weeks, including 186 consecutive weeks from February 2013 to September 2016. She accomplished this despite overcoming several health issues in her career, and taking time off while pregnant.

Coached by her father, Richard Williams, Serena skipped most junior tournaments as did Venus, and they just trained on their own. She started playing the WTA Tour in 1998 at age 17 and won her first Grand Slam in 1999 at the US Open, with her first WTA title occurring in February of that year at the Open GDF Suez in France. Her last Grand Slam title came at the 2017 Australian Open, a span of 18 years, after which she was out for a year while having a baby. Her last victory of any sort came at the 2020 New Zealand Open, defeating Jessica Pegula in the final.

Serena and her sister, Venus, did all this as the first African-American female champions since Althea Gibson in the 1950s, and overcoming the prejudice which that engendered in the tennis world. Serena never really announced her retirement from competitive tennis, and hinted that she likely never would, but she played what seemed to be her last Grand Slam event at 2021 Wimbledon, when she lost in the first round at age 40.

Olympic family relations

• Sister of Venus Williams

Special Notes

• Listed in Olympians With a Net Worth > $100M ($170M (The Richest, 2019))
• Listed in Olympians Who Were Named Champion des champions de L'Équipe (2012 (women), 2013 (women), 2015 (women))
• Listed in Olympians Who Were Named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year (21 Grand Slam titles (1999-2015), four Olympic gold medals (2000-12), 2015 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year)
• Listed in Olympians Who Won a Laureus World Sports Award (Won Sportswoman of the Year in 2003, 2010, 2016, 2018)
• Listed in Olympians Who Won a Golden Slam in Tennis (Singles: Australian Open (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009-10, 2015, 2017), French Open (2002, 2013, 2015), Wimbledon (2002-03, 2009-10, 2012, 2015-16), US Open (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012-14), Olympics (2012); Doubles: Australian Open (2001, 2003, 2009-10), French Open (1999, 2010), Wimbledon (2000, 2002, 2008-09, 2012, 2016), US Open (1999, 2009), Olympics (2000, 2008, 2012))
• Listed in Olympic Champions Who Have Played in a Fed Cup Final Winning Team (Olympic Gold - 2000 / 2008 / 2012; Fed Cup - 1999)
• Listed in Olympians Who Were Awarded the Prix Monique Berlioux (2013)