HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
(WTA) for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. She won 23
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
singles titles, the most by any player in the
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
, and the second-most of all time. Along with her older sister
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
, Serena Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1995, she won her first major singles title at the 1999 US Open. From the 2002 French Open to the
2003 Australian Open The 2003 Australian Open was a tennis tournament held in 2003. It was the first Grand Slam event of the 2003 ATP Tour and the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the 91st edition of the event and attracted 512,225 spectators. Thomas Johansson could not defend ...
, she was dominant, winning all four major singles titles (each time over Venus in the final) to achieve a non-calendar year Grand Slam and the career Grand Slam, known as the 'Serena Slam'. The next few years saw her claim two more singles majors, but suffer from injury and decline in form. Beginning in 2007, however, she gradually returned to form despite continued injuries, retaking the world No. 1 singles ranking. Beginning at the
2012 Wimbledon Championships The 2012 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 126th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
, Williams returned to dominance, claiming Olympic gold and becoming the first tennis player to achieve a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. She won eight out of thirteen singles majors, including all four in a row from 2014–15 to achieve a second "Serena Slam". At the 2017 Australian Open, she won her 23rd major singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record. She then took a break from professional tennis after becoming pregnant and reached four major finals since returning to play. In August 2022, Williams announced her impending evolution away from professional tennis and played what was expected to be her final match at the 2022 US Open. Williams also won 14 major women's doubles titles, all with her sister Venus, and the pair was unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. This includes a non-calendar year Grand Slam between the
2009 Wimbledon Championships The 2009 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 123rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...
and the
2010 French Open The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...
, which granted the sisters the doubles world No. 1 ranking. She won four Olympic gold medals, three in women's doubles—an all-time joint record shared with her sister. She has also won two major mixed doubles titles, both in 1998. The arrival of the
Williams sisters The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were c ...
has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Serena holds the most combined major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles among active players, with 39: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era for total major titles. She is the most recent woman to simultaneously hold all four major singles titles (2002–03 and 2014–15), and the most recent woman to win the Surface Slam (major titles on hard,
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
and
grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...
courts in the same calendar year), doing so in 2015. She is also, with Venus, the most recent player to have simultaneously held all four major women's doubles titles (2009–10). Williams was the world's highest paid woman athlete in 2016, earning almost $29 million. She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' list of the 100 highest-paid athletes, with $27million in prize money and endorsements. She has won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award four times (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), and in December 2015 was named
Sportsperson of the Year Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition. Definition of "athlete" *In many nations, an "athlete" primarily refers to someone who participat ...
by ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' magazine. In 2021, she was ranked 28th on ''Forbes'' World's Highest-Paid Athletes list. She is the highest-earning woman athlete of all time.


Early life

Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in
Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...
to Oracene Price and Richard Williams. She is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea, and Isha Price, and full older sister
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
. She also has at least seven paternal half-siblings. When the children were young, the family moved to Compton, California, where she started playing tennis at age four. Her father home-schooled her and her sister, Venus. While he and subsequently her mother have been their official coaches, her other mentors have included Richard Williams, a Compton man who shared her father's name and subsequently founded The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Tutorial Academy. When Williams was nine, she and her family moved from Compton to
West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...
so she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who provided her with additional coaching. Macci did not always agree with Williams's father, but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, as he wanted them to "go slowly" and focus on school work. Experiences of racism also influenced this decision, as he had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the
United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
junior tour and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida.Edmonson, 2005, ''Venus and Serena Williams'', pp. 46–47. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether it would have been more beneficial for them to have followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit, Williams responded, "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us."


Professional career


1995–1998: Professional debut

Williams' parents wanted their daughter to wait until she was 16 to participate in professional tournaments. In 1995, just after turning 14, Williams planned to make her professional debut as a wild-card entry in the Bank of the West Classic in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, but was denied by the WTA owing to their age-eligibility restrictions. She subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women's tour, but withdrew it at her parents' request. Her first professional event was in October 1995 at the
Bell Challenge A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...
in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, where she used a wild-card entry to circumvent age-eligibility rules. She lost in the first qualifying round to then 18-year-old American
Annie Miller Annie Miller (1835–1925) was an English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Her on-off relationship with Holman Hunt ...
, winning just two games. Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. The next year, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments, before winning her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked No. 304, she upset No. 7
Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a retired tennis professional who represented France internationally in team competitions and the Olympics. She was born in Canada to an American father and a French mother, and holds citizenship of ...
, and No. 4
Monica Seles Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...
,(November 8, 1997), "Tennis". ''The New York Times''. 147 (50970):C4 recording her first career wins over top10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top-10 opponents in one tournament. She ultimately lost in the semifinals to No. 5
Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005) ...
. She finished 1997 ranked No. 99. Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier ranked No. 96, she defeated No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario (; born 18 December 1971) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. She won 14 Grand Slam titles: four in singles, six in women's doubles, and four in mixed doubles. She also won four Ol ...
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 her sister, Venus, in the second round in the sisters' first professional match. She reached six other quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them, including her first match against No. 1-ranked 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 the US Open to Spîrlea. She withdrew from Wimbledon two games into a match with
Virginia Ruano Pascual Virginia Ruano Pascual (; born 21 September 1973) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She had moderate success in singles, winning three career Women's Tennis Association (WTA) titles as well as reaching two Grand Slam quarterfinal ...
, after straining a calf muscle during the first set. She did 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. She won her first professional title in doubles at the U.S. National Indoor Championships in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA title. They won two more doubles titles that year. Williams finished the year ranked No. 20 in singles.


Battle of the sexes: Karsten Braasch vs. the Williams sisters

A 16-year-old Serena and her sister Venus competed in a tennis "Battle of the Sexes" against
Karsten Braasch Karsten Braasch (born 14 July 1967) is a German former professional tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking was World No. 38, which he reached in June 1994. His career-high in doubles was World No. 36, achieved in November 1997. He won si ...
at the 1998 Australian Open. At the time Braasch was 203rd in the ATP rankings. The sisters had claimed they could beat any man outside the top 200, and accepted his challenge. Braasch beat both of them, playing one set against each. The score versus Serena was 6–1 and 6–2 against Venus. Braasch said afterward, "500 and above, no chance." The sisters later tweaked the number to beating men outside the top 350.


1999–2001: Becoming a top-10 player

Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine Testud. A month later, Williams won her first professional singles title when she defeated
Amélie Mauresmo Amélie Simone Mauresmo (; born 5 July 1979) is a French former world No. 1 tennis player and tournament director. Mauresmo won two major singles titles at the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships, and also won the silver medal in s ...
in the final of the
Open Gaz de France Open GDF Suez, formerly Open Gaz de France, was a Premier level tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Paris, France. Held from 1993 till 2014, the tournament was played indoors, originally on carpet until 2000, then on hardcourts. The 2014 Ope ...
in Paris. With Venus also winning the IGA Superthrift Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week. In March of that year, at the Evert Cup in California, Williams won her first Tier I title, defeating Steffi Graf in the final. Soon afterward at the
Miami Masters The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, Williams had her 16-match winning streak ended by her sister in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history, and she then made her top-10 debut, at 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. Williams then missed Wimbledon because of injury. When she returned to the tour, Williams won a
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
singles match and then won the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, beating
Julie Halard-Decugis Julie Halard-Decugis (born 10 September 1970) is a French former professional tennis player. Tennis career Halard-Decugis lived in La Baule, France, during the initial stages of her career and later moved to Pully, Switzerland. She turned profes ...
in the final. She then defeated in succession Grand Slam champions
Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...
, Conchita Martínez,
Monica Seles Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...
, and defending champion Lindsay Davenport to reach the US Open final, where she defeated No. 1, Hingis, to become the second African-American woman, after
Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American ...
in 1958, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at this tournament. To complete her 1999 season, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia. Williams ended the year ranked 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 Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva (russian: Елена Александровна Лиховцева ; born 8 September 1975) is a Kazakhstani-born Russian former tennis player. She turned professional in January 1992, at the age of 16. Together ...
. She failed to defend her titles in Paris and Indian Wells, although she did win the Faber Grand Prix in Germany. Soon afterwards, Williams missed the French Open because of injury. She returned from injury at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...
, where she lost to Venus in the semifinals, but the pair 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 that September. She ended the year winning the Toyota Princess Cup in Japan and she finished the year ranked No. 6. Williams began 2001 losing to Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals of the Medibank International in Sydney and the Australian Open in Melbourne. Williams and her sister 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 in California, where she defeated Kim Clijsters in the final. The final was marred by the behavior of the crowd toward Williams and her family. Crowd members were incensed at the perceived match-fixing of games involving the family after Venus withdrew before their semifinal. Neither Williams nor her sister entered the tournament for fourteen years until Williams entered in 2015 as a wildcard (and the top seed). The following week at the Ericsson Open in Miami, Williams lost to
Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics ...
in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati at both the French Open and
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...
. That was the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament at which Williams had exited in the quarterfinals. During the North American hard-court season, she lost in the quarterfinals of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
against Monica Seles, then captured her second title of the year at the Rogers Cup, defeating Capriati in the final. Williams reached the final of the 2001 US Open, losing to sister Venus. That was the first Grand Slam tournament final contested by two sisters during the Open Era. At the 2001 season-ending Tour 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 No. 6 for the second straight year.


2002–2003: "Serena Slam"

Early 2002, injury saw Williams retire from the semifinal at the Medibank International Sydney and later withdraw from the Australian Open. Returning from injury, Williams won her first title of the year in
Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...
, defeating No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, in the final. She then won the Miami Masters for the first time, becoming one of three players in the Open Era to defeat the world's top 3 ranked players at one tournament, after beating No. 3, Martina Hingis, in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Venus in the semifinals, and the top-ranked player, Capriati, in the final. Serena's 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. Williams reached the quarterfinals before losing to
Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011
is a Swiss reti ...
. She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the Eurocard German Open losing to
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in tenni ...
in a third set tiebreak. Williams went on to win her first clay court title at the Italian Open, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. This raised her ranking to a new high of No. 3. Williams was the third seed at the French Open at Roland Garros, where she claimed her first title thereby defeating defending champion Capriati in the semifinals and sister Venus in the final to win her second Grand Slam tournament title (and her first in two-and-a-half years). As a result of raising the trophy at
Court Philippe Chatrier Stade Roland Garros (; "Roland Garros Stadium") is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris that hosts the French Open. That tournament, also known as ''Roland Garros'', is a Grand Slam tennis championship played annuall ...
, Williams rose to a career-high of No. 2, second only to Venus. At the
2002 Wimbledon Championships The 2002 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 116th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held f ...
, Williams won tennis's oldest championship for the first time in her life, 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 for the first time, dethroning her sister and becoming only the third African American woman to hold that ranking. 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 American
Chanda Rubin Chanda Rubin (born February 18, 1976) is an American former top-10 professional tennis player. During her career, she reached the semifinals at the 1996 Australian Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open three times, and had wins over world- ...
and ending a 21-match winning streak. The top-seeded player at the US Open, Williams reached the final where, for the third Grand Slam in a row, she defeated her sister to win the title, the second US Open crown of her career. Williams won two consecutive singles titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, and
Anastasia Myskina Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...
to win the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-end Home Depot Championships at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where she lost to fifth-seeded Clijsters in straight sets, ending an 18-match winning streak. Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 W/L record, eight singles titles, and the No. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American to end a year with that ranking since
Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American ...
in 1958 and was the first woman to win three Grand Slam tournament titles in one year since Hingis in 1997. Her three consecutive Grand Slam titles to close 2002 also made Williams only the third player in tennis history to win the "Surface Slam", three Slam titles on three surfaces in the same calendar year, after Navratilova (1984) and Graf (1993, 1995, 1996). At the
2003 Australian Open The 2003 Australian Open was a tennis tournament held in 2003. It was the first Grand Slam event of the 2003 ATP Tour and the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the 91st edition of the event and attracted 512,225 spectators. Thomas Johansson could not defend ...
, Williams reached the tournament's semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the third set and saved two match points before defeating Clijsters. In the final, Serena faced Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final, defeating her older sister to become the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, alongside
Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...
, 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. The
Williams sisters The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were c ...
won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event. During the spring of 2003, Williams captured the singles titles at the
Open Gaz de France Open GDF Suez, formerly Open Gaz de France, was a Premier level tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Paris, France. Held from 1993 till 2014, the tournament was played indoors, originally on carpet until 2000, then on hardcourts. The 2014 Ope ...
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. Williams rebounded from the French Open loss a couple weeks later 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. Wimbledon was Williams's last tournament of 2003; she pulled out of three events in the US and then underwent surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee in early August. Williams was initially expected to be out for six to eight weeks.


2004–2007: Injuries and the comeback

After eight months away from the tour, during which time her desire was questioned, Williams began her comeback at the 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami in March, where she made a triumphant return as she won the title for the third consecutive year. Although ranked No. 7, Williams was seeded second at the French Open, where, after winning four matches, she lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals. That was the first time that Williams had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. A few weeks later, even though her ranking had dropped to No. 10, Williams was seeded first at Wimbledon. She won six matches en route to the final, where 13th-seeded
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2 ...
defeated her in straight sets. This loss caused her ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 1999. Later that summer, Williams reached her third final of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles where she lost to Lindsay Davenport which was her first loss to the American since the 2000 US Open. After missing her national championship in 2003, Williams returned for the 2004 US Open, where she was seeded third despite her No. 11 ranking. She lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Capriati in three sets in controversial fashion. That fall, Williams won her second title of the year, at the China Open, defeating US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Williams's successful season allowed her to qualify for the Tour Championships, held again in Los Angeles. In the round-robin phase of the tournament, Williams defeated Dementieva and
Anastasia Myskina Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...
and lost to Davenport, but still advanced to the elimination stage. After winning her semifinal, she lost to Sharapova in the final, where she suffered an abdominal injury. Williams finished 2004 ranked No. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first season since 2001. At the
2005 Australian Open The 2005 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 until 30 January 2005. Roger Federer was unsuccessful in defending his 2004 title, being defeated in the semi-finals by eventual champion Marat Safin ...
, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis, following Venus's early exit. Williams saved three match points to defeat Sharapova 8–6 in the third of their semifinal. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport to win her second Australian Open and seventh Grand Slam singles title, winning 12 of the last 15 games. The win moved Williams back to No. 2 but stated she was targeting the top spot. 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 Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She w ...
as Williams suffered a series of retirements and withdraws. A reoccurring ankle injury causing her to miss the French Open. She returned for Wimbledon as the 4th-seeded player, but was defeated in the third round by 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 that fall, a loss to No. 127 Sun Tiantian at the tournament in Beijing. She failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998 and she finished the year 2005 ranked No. 11, her first time finishing the season outside the top 10 since 1998. Williams made her 2006 debut at the Australian Open. Defending the title, Williams lost to
Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating M ...
in the third round. After the tournament, she told the press that she was injured, blaming a lack of fitness and a knee injury for keeping her off the court. In her biography, Williams claims that she was actually suffering from depression. She stayed away from pro tennis for six months during the 2006 season. After she had shut herself off from the world for a period, Williams saw a therapist daily. After a chance meeting with a young girl who idolized Williams and believed that she could still win, Williams signed up to play in Cincinnati, her first tournament since Melbourne. Williams had slipped to No. 139, the lowest ranking she had held since 1997. On her return, Williams defeated Myskina and
Bethanie Mattek Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
, before losing in the semifinals to
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
. 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 No. 139, outside the automatic 102. Her ranking had improved to 79th by the time the tournament came around. She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the fourth round. Following the US Open, she did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked No. 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, a comment 1987 Wimbledon men's singles champion and commentator Pat Cash branded "deluded". Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the Hobart International, a warm-up for the Australian Open where Williams was unseeded because of her No. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as "out of shape".Tandon, Kamakshi (January 14, 2008
New Mindset: Serena Playing for Herself
tennis.com
She experienced a huge amount of pressure on herself before the tournament, coming from her fans and the press as well as Williams herself about her weight, focus and needing a good showing. Shortly before her first match, a representative from Nike paid her a visit in the players' lounge, informing her that if she did not 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. The distraction from Nike did not distract Williams, as she lost just three games to
Mara Santangelo Mara Santangelo (born 28 June 1981) is a retired tennis player from Italy and Grand Slam champion in double. Tennis career Santangelo reached the fourth round at the 2004 Australian Open, defeating 16th-seeded Magüi Serna, Barbara Schett, a ...
and defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets. 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 Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova (russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ...
, 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 to the final, defeating Janković, Pe'er and Vaidišová. 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." Williams also found herself two points from going out against Peer before turning it around. By the time Williams had reached the final, the cold and blister had both left. Previewing the finals,
Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won three Grand Slam titles: the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon ...
stated that, although Williams had a great tournament, she believed that the ride was over and that Sharapova would have no trouble with Williams. Williams thought it was mean and unnecessary and used it as motivation along with other criticism. In the final, Williams lost just three games against Maria Sharapova, winning her first title at any tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open 24 months prior. Williams became the first player since Chris O'Neil to win the title while 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 half-sister Yetunde. 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". In her post-match interview, Williams took a swipe at her critics, stating that she had proved them wrong. Williams won the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the fourth time by defeating Justine Henin. Williams had to record a come-from-behind win after being whitewashed in the first set and saving two match points in the second. She played for her country in the Fed Cup for the first time since 2003 in a tie against
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and won her opening match but withdrew from her second, because of a knee injury. At the French Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Henin. 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. Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with Henin, whilst suffering from the injuries sustained in the previous round. At the US Open, Williams lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin. Williams reached the final of Kremlin Cup, losing to
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
. Williams qualified for the WTA Championships, but retired from her first match with
Anna Chakvetadze Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze ( ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles, the biggest being the 2006 Kremlin Cup. She booked her highest singles ranking o ...
with a knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the event. Williams finished 2007 as No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.


2008–2010: Back to No. 1 and injuries

Williams started 2008 by participating on the U.S. team that won the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
with
Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
. At the Australian Open she lost in the quarterfinals to
Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...
,Serena Williams Playing Activity
WTA. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
her fourth straight loss in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In the women's doubles event, she and Venus were defeated in the quarterfinals. Williams withdrew from her next three scheduled tournaments because of an urgent need for dental surgery. Williams then won three consecutive singles titles at
Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
and her fifth
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
title, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament. Williams won at the Family Circle Cup, her first clay-court title since the 2002 French Open. Her 17-match winning streak was ended by
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (; ; tt-Cyrl, Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the ...
in the quarterfinals of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. Williams withdrew in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
in the quarterfinals against Alizé Cornet owing to 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 Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
. At Wimbledon, Williams reached the finals for the first time in four years but lost to her older sister Venus in straight sets, in their first Slam final since 2003. Serena and Venus 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 Aleksandra Wozniak ( pl, Woźniak; born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian former tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005, and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 21 in June 2009, making her the fifth highest-ranked Canadian singl ...
. The injury forced her to withdraw from
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. At the Olympics in Beijing, Williams lost to Dementieva in the quarterfinals. Serena and Venus won the gold medal in doubles, beating
Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
and
Virginia Ruano Pascual Virginia Ruano Pascual (; born 21 September 1973) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She had moderate success in singles, winning three career Women's Tennis Association (WTA) titles as well as reaching two Grand Slam quarterfinal ...
in the final. At the US Open, Williams defeated sister Venus, Safina and Jelena Janković in the final. That was her third US Open and ninth Grand Slam singles title. The victory returned her to the No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2003. At the year-end championships she defeated Safina and lost to Venus in her round-robin matches, but withdrew from her match against Dementieva, citing a stomach muscle injury. She ended 2008 ranked 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 Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
. At the Australian Open, she claimed her tenth Grand Slam singles title by defeating
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (; ; tt-Cyrl, Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the ...
in the final in 59 minutes. This win returned her to the No. 1 ranking and resulted in her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women's sports, overtaking golfer
Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 intern ...
. In women's doubles, with Venus, they captured the title for the third time. At the Open GdF Suez, Williams withdrew before her semifinal match against Dementieva because of a knee injury. Serena then played at
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, 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 Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...
. This was the first of four consecutive losses for her, the longest losing streak of her career. She was defeated in her opening matches at
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, and
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
. 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. Serena and 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 Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
losing in the third round, followed by a semifinal defeat at 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. Williams won all three of her round-robin matches at the year-end
WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations * Washington Trails Association * Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Wa ...
, 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. Williams finished the year ranked 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. For doubles that year, the Williams sisters finished the year ranked No. 2, despite playing only six tournaments together as a pair. Williams had won five Grand Slam tournament titles, putting her total of Grand Slam titles won thus far at 23, and she was consequently named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press for 2009. Williams was also the ITF World Champion in both the singles and doubles events. In 2010, Williams's first scheduled tournament was in Sydney, losing in the final to Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, Williams was the defending champion in both singles and doubles. She reached the final and defeated Justine Henin, who had just recently come out of retirement, for her twelfth Grand Slam singles title. In doubles, Williams and her sister, Venus, successfully defended their title by defeating Cara Black and
Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...
in the final. Williams withdrew with a leg injury from her next few events, and returned at the
Rome Masters The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
, losing to Jelena Janković in the semifinals. At
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, she fell to Nadia Petrova in the third round but partnered Venus to win the doubles title. At the French Open, Williams was defeated by
Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
in the quarterfinals. She and Venus were the top seeds in the doubles event and won the title, defeating
Květa Peschke Květoslava Peschke (née Hrdličková; born 9 July 1975) is a Czech retired professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 in November 2005, winning one WTA singles title ...
and
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
in the final to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title and improving their doubles ranking to No. 1. Williams's 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. She did not lose a set in the tournament. After the match, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the top five 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 got all the goods." 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 the injury caused her to miss the rest of the year. Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in singles after 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 Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
.


2011–2013: Return to dominance, career golden slam

Williams finally made a return to the practice court in March 2011. She made her first appearance on the WTA tour in almost a year in
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
. Williams lost in round two to Vera Zvonareva in a match that lasted over three hours. Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. She reached the round of 16, where she lost to
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also ...
. After the loss, her ranking dropped to 169. Williams won her first titles since her return to tennis triumphing in Stanford and
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. At the Western & Southern Open, Williams 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 and 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 No. 12 with two 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 Bojana may refer to Places * Bojana (river), a river in Albania and Montenegro * Ada Bojana / Bojana Island Name * Bojana (given name), a Slavic given name * People ** Bojana Atanasovska ** Bojana Bobusic ** Bojana Jovanovski ** Bojana Novakovic * ...
, she injured her left ankle when serving for the match. As a result, Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament. Next she participated at the Australian Open where she was upset by
Ekaterina Makarova Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova ( rus, Екатери́на Вале́рьевна Мака́рова; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles. She ...
in the fourth round. After a month layoff, Williams returned to competition in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
losing in the quarterfinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Williams then won consecutive titles at Charleston and
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
beating Lucie Šafářová and Victoria Azarenka, but withdrew from her semifinal match against
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...
in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
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 Virginie Razzano (born 12 May 1983) is a former French professional tennis player. She won two WTA Tour singles titles, both of them in 2007. Razzano reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 16 on 14 September 2009. She represen ...
. Williams notched up a 33–1 record for the second half of the season winning five titles in the process. Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title, her fourteenth Grand Slam title; setting a serving record of 24 aces by a woman in a match as well as having the most aces, male or female, during the tournament (102). Williams returned to America to successfully defend her title in Stanford beating
CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...
in the final. Williams then returned to Wimbledon to represent her country at the Olympic Games where she won gold, defeating Maria Sharapova in a dominating performance. Williams failed to drop more than three games per set en route to winning the medal. Williams undefeated streak ended with a loss in Cincinnati to
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wi ...
. 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. Williams ended the season by competing at the WTA Championships and went undefeated throughout the tournament to win the event for her third title. Williams was voted WTA Player of the Year for the fourth time. Based on her brilliant show in 2012, Williams was also named
International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...
World Champion. 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. The pair successfully defended their Olympic doubles title which meant that they became the only tennis players to win four gold medals. Williams's first tournament of the 2013 season was in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, where she won the title without dropping a set. Williams was upset in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by fellow American player
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in to ...
. By virtue of defeating
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...
in Doha, Williams returned to the No. 1 position for the sixth time in her career and became the oldest woman in the Open Era to hold the ranking. Williams went on to lose to Victoria Azarenka in the final. In the Miami final, Williams lost a set to Maria Sharapova for the first time since 2008. This setback did not stop Williams who recorded her 70th 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. Williams successfully defended her Charleston title, winning it for the third time overall. Williams won her fiftieth career singles title in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, 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 semifinal, Williams only lost one game when she defeated Sara Errani, something seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert described as the finest woman performance on clay she had ever seen. Williams defeated Sharapova to claim her second Roland Garros title, her sixteenth grand slam tournament title overall. She became the fourth woman in the Open Era after Navratilova, Evert and Graf to win each Grand Slam tournament title on at least two occasions. At Wimbledon, 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 Johanna Larsson (; born 17 August 1988) is a Swedish former tennis player. She won two singles and 14 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her career-high WTA rankings are ...
in the final, the tournament win marked the first occasion that she had won an
International International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
level title. By winning the tournament this meant that Williams had managed to be undefeated on clay during the season. Williams won her 3rd Rogers Cup title in Toronto beating
Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
in the final. Williams reached the final of the Western & Southern Open for the first time but lost to Azarenka. At the US Open, Williams began as 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. Williams became the oldest US Open champion in the Open Era and pushed her career prize money past $50million. After the US Open, Williams beat Jelena Janković to win the China Open in Beijing for her 10th title of 2013. 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 11th title of 2013 becoming the 8th player to win 11 titles or more in a year and the first since Martina Hingis in 1997. Also, she became the oldest person to win the WTA Championships and 4th player to win it 4 times or more. By winning the championship, Williams became the first woman to win more than $10million in a season and with her total of $12,385,572, only
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...
, in 2013, and
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, in 2011, 2012 and 2013, have earned more money in one season. Williams finished as the year end No. 1 for the third time, becoming the oldest No. 1 player in WTA history. She was also named the 2013 ITF World Champion, the fourth time that she has been given the World Champion's crown. 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. In late December 2013, Williams capped off her year by receiving the Associated Press 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.


2014–2015: Second 'Serena Slam'

Williams defended her title at the Brisbane International by defeating No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. At the Australian Open she ended up losing to former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the fourth round. At
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, Williams lost her semifinal match to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. Williams next headed to the Miami Open where she won her record seventh title with a straight-sets victory over No. 2
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...
. Williams lost to
Jana Čepelová Jana Čepelová (; born 29 May 1993) is an inactive Slovak tennis player. She has won seven singles titles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 12 May 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 50. On 18 May 2015, she p ...
in the second round of the Family Circle Cup. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open before withdrawing with a left thigh injury. Williams won her third title of the season at the
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. She was then handed the worst loss of her Grand Slam tournament career by Garbiñe Muguruza at the second round of the French Open, who defeated Serena losing just four games in two sets. Alizé Cornet defeated Williams for the second time in the year in the third round of Wimbledon, thus handing Williams her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005. Serena was then forced to withdraw from the doubles event alongside sister Venus while trailing 0–3 in the second round. A disoriented Serena hit 4 consecutive doubles faults and was having trouble with both her ball toss and movement before being removed from what has been described as one of the most unusual scenes ever seen in tennis. Williams rebounded by winning 19 out of her next 20 matches (losing only to sister Venus in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup). This streak include titles at the Bank of the West Classic as well as her first Western & Southern Open title and her third consecutive and sixth overall US Open singles title which she won without having dropped a set. With this victory Williams tied Chris Evert for most singles titles won by a woman at the US Open in the Open Era. Williams also tied Evert and Navratilova's 18 Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. By virtue of having won both the US Open and the
US Open Series The US Open Series is the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It is part of the "North American hard court season". Emira ...
, Williams collected $4,000,000 – the biggest payday in tennis history. At the
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
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 Williams advanced to the final for the third consecutive year despite having equaled her career-worst loss in her second round robin match versus
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
. Williams won her fifth WTA Finals title by avenging her loss to Halep in the championship match for her seventh title of the year. Williams finished the year ranked 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 a third consecutive year (sixth overall). Williams began the 2015 season by representing the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
alongside
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
at the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
. The American pair lost the final to the Poland. At the Australian Open Williams defeated Maria Sharapova for the 16th 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. With this victory Williams surpassed both, Evert and 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 to face Argentina in a World Group II tie for
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
. She played and won her only match against María Irigoyen to help Team USA to a 4–1 win over Argentina. Williams announced that she would be competing at the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is ...
ending her 14-year boycott of the event. Upon her return Williams received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her first match in straight sets. She reached the semifinals, where she was due to face No. 3,
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
, for a place in the final, but was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. By virtue of having defeated Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, Williams became only the eighth woman in the Open Era to record 700 match wins in her career. This also made her one of only three active players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, others being
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...
and
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...
. In the semifinals she won against Halep to advance to her tenth final at the event where she won a record eighth title and extended her winning streak to 21 by beating
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a b ...
. As preparation for the clay court season (and to ensure her eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics), Williams travelled to
Brindisi, Italy Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...
, to face Italy's team for a place in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
's World Group. Williams lost the decisive doubles match alongside
Alison Riske Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014 at the Tianjin Open. ...
to Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta, and as a result the United States team were relegated to World Group II. It was Williams's first loss in the Fed Cup. She maintained her perfect record in singles by defeating Camila Giorgi and Errani. The week of April 20 marked Williams's 114th consecutive week ranked No. 1, the third-longest run in WTA history, behind Steffi Graf's 186 weeks and Navratilova's 156. Williams suffered her first defeat of the season in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open to No. 4, Petra Kvitová. This loss ended a 27-match winning streak for Williams as well as a 50-match winning streak at Premier-Mandatory events, and also a 19-match winning streak at the particular event. Williams played one match at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d'Italia before withdrawing from the tournament with an elbow injury. By virtue of having defeated Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the French Open, Williams became the first woman in the Open Era to win 50 matches at all four of the Grand Slams. Williams then defeated
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in to ...
to reach her 40th Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. Williams won her next match easily, but had to come back from a set down in the semifinals versus
Timea Bacsinszky Timea Bacsinszky ( hu, Bacsinszky Tímea; born 8 June 1989) is a Swiss former professional tennis player who won four singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. A fo ...
for the fourth time in five matches to reach the final. She would go on to defeat Lucie Šafářová from the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
in three sets to win her third French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title. The win made Williams only the third person in history to win each Grand Slam at least three times, joining Margaret Court and Steffi Graf. She is the first player to win three straight Grand Slams since she did it herself during the Serena Slam. She also became the first player to win the Australian-French Open double since Jennifer Capriati in 2001. Williams completed her second "Serena Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a row) by winning the
2015 Wimbledon Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...
– her 6th Wimbledon and 21st
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
singles title overall. Her path to victory at Wimbledon was particularly challenging. She was down a double break in the third round versus Heather Watson and two points from defeat twice before rallying for the win and becoming the first player to qualify for the WTA Finals (the earliest that a player had qualified since the event switched to the round-robin format in 2003). Williams then defeated three former No. 1 players–Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova—in succession to advance to the final. Awaiting her there was 21-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza, who had previously handed Williams the worst Grand Slam tournament defeat of her career at the 2014 French Open. Williams defeated Muguruza in a tight two-setter. The victory made Williams the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a grand slam singles title, in addition to having the distinction of being the oldest ladies' grand slam singles champion of all time. It also was her eighth consecutive victory in Grand Slam singles finals appearances, breaking Steffi Graf's Open Era record of seven from 1995 through 1999 and, on the men's side, tying Pete Sampras's Open Era record of eight from 1995 through 2000. Her 21st Grand Slam singles titles equaled the tally of the rest of the women's tour, combined. The week of July 13 marked the first time in WTA history that the No. 1 player had more than twice as many points as No. 2. Following her win at Wimbledon, Williams was awarded her 7th
ESPY An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
for Best Female Tennis Player. Williams played one match at the
Swedish Open Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
in Båstad before withdrawing with an elbow injury. She was the defending champion at the Bank of the West Classic but withdrew from the tournament in order for her elbow to get better. Williams had her 19 match winning streak ended by 18-year-old Swiss
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
, the No. 20, in three tight sets in the semifinals of the Canadian Open. It was her second defeat of the year and first on hard courts since the 2014 WTA Finals. The next week Williams defended her title at the Western & Southern Open with a straight sets victory over No. 3 Simona Halep for her 69th WTA title, breaking a tie with
Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open sing ...
for standalone fifth-most WTA titles won. Williams's attempt at capturing the "Grand Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar year) came to an end in the semifinals of the US Open, where she lost to Roberta Vinci in three sets. The loss has been described by some as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Nonetheless, Williams secured the year-end No. 1 ranking with her results at the tournament. On October 1, Williams called an end to her season, stating that she had been injured for most of the year and wanted to address her fitness issues. Prior to the announcement, coach Patrick Mouratoglou hinted that Williams might not play again in 2015 owing to a lack of motivation and disappointment following her loss at the Open. On October 5, Williams surpassed Chris Evert for third-most weeks ranked world No. 1. Williams held the No. 1 ranking the entire season for the second consecutive year, finishing there for the fifth time in her career. She was voted WTA Player of the Year for the seventh time in her career. On December 14,
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
announced Williams as their
Sportsperson of the Year Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition. Definition of "athlete" *In many nations, an "athlete" primarily refers to someone who participat ...
. She thus became the third solo woman, and first since 1983, to receive the award. Williams was also named ITF World Champion for the sixth time in her career. Soon after, it was announced that she was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
for the fourth time.


2016: Open Era Grand Slam record

Williams withdrew from the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
after retiring from her singles match against Australia Gold with inflammation of her left knee. Her next tournament was the Australian Open, where she was the No. 1 seed and defending champion. She reached the final without dropping a set, including wins over No. 5, Maria Sharapova, and No. 4, Agnieszka Radwańska, and faced first time Grand Slam finalist
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wi ...
. She was considered the heavy favorite to win the title, as she had never lost an Australian Open final or semifinal. She also dominated the head-to-head against Kerber, having lost only once in six meetings and having not lost a set to her in four years. Williams lost the final in three sets and Kerber won her first Grand Slam title. This marked Williams's first-ever loss in the final of the Australian Open, as well as her first three-set loss in the final of a Grand Slam. She had previously been 6–0 and 8–0 respectively. The week of February 15 marked Williams's 157th consecutive week ranked No. 1, passing Navratilova's mark of 156 to have the second-longest run in WTA history behind Steffi Graf's 186. She competed in Indian Wells as the No. 1 seed. She reached her first final here since winning in 2001 and before boycotting the event, by defeating Simona Halep in the quarterfinals and Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. She did not drop a set en route to the final. Williams was upset by No. 13 seed Victoria Azarenka, whom she had defeated the last five times the pair had met, in straight sets. This marked the first time since 2004 where Williams lost two consecutive finals. She next played the Miami Open as the defending champion. She lost in the fourth round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. This marked her first loss here since 2012 and ended her 20 match winning streak in Miami. This was also her earliest exit here since 2000, where she lost in the same round. During the clay court swing, Williams withdrew from Madrid but entered Rome. She beat
Anna-Lena Friedsam Anna-Lena Friedsam (born 1 February 1994) is a German tennis player. She has won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one WTA 125 singles title as well as 12 singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. She played also ...
and
Christina McHale Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles. Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
to progress to the quarterfinals where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova to avenge her loss in Miami. She then went on to beat Irina-Camelia Begu and Madison Keys to win her 70th career WTA title and to win her first title of the year. This was her third Rome title in four years and fourth overall. At the French Open, Williams dropped only one set en route to the final. She defeated Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinals despite being five points away from losing. She then beat surprise semifinalist Kiki Bertens to reach her fourth French Open final where she faced Garbiñe Muguruza in a repeat of last year's Wimbledon final where Williams was victorious. The result was not the same as that Wimbledon final as Williams lost to Muguruza in straight sets. With this loss, Williams had lost two consecutive Grand Slam finals for the first time in her career. On top of failing to equal Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams also completed the Career Grand Slam runner-up set with this loss. At Wimbledon, Williams only lost one set en route to the final where she faced Angelique Kerber in a rematch of their Australian Open final earlier in the year. This time, Williams defeated Kerber in straight sets to finally equal Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slams in the Open Era. That was Williams's first Grand Slam title of the year, as well as her 71st career WTA title overall. In what was a brilliant serving performance, Williams only faced one break point in the whole match against Kerber which she saved with an ace. Later that day, Williams partnered with sister Venus to win their sixth Wimbledon doubles title and 14th doubles Grand Slam title overall, keeping their perfect record at Grand Slam doubles finals intact. On July 24, 2016, Williams withdrew from Rogers Cup citing a shoulder inflammation injury. She next participated in the Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
, where she was the defending gold medalist in both singles and doubles and was the heavy favourite to retain those titles. Partnering with her sister Venus in the doubles, they suffered a shock exit in the first round, losing to the Czech duo of Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová, which ended their career record of 15–0 dating back to the
2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
. In singles, after defeating
Daria Gavrilova Daria Saville (née Gavrilova, born 5 March 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. She represented Russia until 2015, before emigrating to Australia. She competed under her maiden name until her marriage to Luke Saville in 20 ...
and Alizé Cornet in the first two rounds, Williams faced Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the third round in what was a rematch of this year's French Open fourth round, but lost to the Ukrainian, bringing an end to her Olympics campaign. Days after the Olympics, Williams took a late wildcard for the Western & Southern Open, where she was the defending champion, but then decided to withdraw owing to concerns from the same shoulder injury/inflammation from earlier in the summer. The week of September 5, 2016, marked Williams's 186th consecutive week ranked No. 1, equalling Steffi Graf's record for longest run in WTA history. In the semifinals of the US Open, Williams lost to Karolína Plíšková. Having won the US Open, Angelique Kerber became the No. 1, ending Williams's No. 1 streak. Williams also pulled out of the WTA Finals because of a shoulder injury.


2017: Australian Open victory and pregnancy

Williams started her 2017 season by participating in the
WTA Auckland Open The WTA Auckland Open (currently sponsored by ASB Bank and called the ASB Classic) is a professional women's tennis tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament is played annually, in the first week of January, at the ASB Tennis Centre ...
for the first time in her career. She defeated
Pauline Parmentier Pauline Parmentier (; born 31 January 1986) is a French former tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is world No. 40, which she attained on 21 July 2008. On 30 April 2012, she peaked at world No. 89 on the WTA doubles rankings. Sh ...
to win her first match since the US Open. In the second round, she lost to Madison Brengle. At the Australian Open, she beat former and present top 10 players
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
, Lucie Šafářová,
Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
among others to reach her 8th Australian Open final. On January 28, 2017, she won the Australian Open for an Open Era record seventh time, defeating her sister, Venus. It was her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22. It was the first time in the Open Era that two players aged 35 or older had competed in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The win ensured her return to the No. 1 ranking. Williams subsequently withdrew from the Indian Wells and
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
Opens, citing a knee injury. On April 19, 2017, Williams revealed that she was 20 weeks pregnant and would miss the remainder of the season. The timing of her announcement led to the conclusion that she would have been roughly eight to nine weeks pregnant when she won the Australian Open. In interviews, she said that she intended to return to tennis after her pregnancy, saying that she had an "outrageous plan" of competing in the 2018 Australian Open. On September 1, 2017, Williams gave birth to a daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., though she is not a true junior as her father's middle name is Kerry. She is commonly called Olympia. She had a cesarean-section delivery due to a
pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
during labor. She suffered another pulmonary embolism after giving birth, leaving her bedridden for six weeks and delaying her return to training. On December 30, 2017, Williams played her first match since giving birth, an exhibition match at the World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, losing to reigning French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko.


2018: Return to tennis, Wimbledon and US Open runner up

On January 5, 2018, Williams withdrew from the upcoming Australian Open, citing a lack of sufficient preparation in the wake of her pregnancy. In February, after overcoming her pregnancy-induced health problems, she returned to the tennis court with her sister. The pair lost to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs (Netherlands) in the Fed Cup's first round on February 11. Despite saying she was 100% ready to come back to tennis, Williams suffered back to back early exits at Indian Wells and Miami, losing in the third round at Indian Wells to her sister Venus and the first round at Miami to 2018 Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka. Williams made her return to Grand Slam tennis at the
2018 French Open The 2018 French Open was a major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. J ...
, playing singles and doubles with her sister Venus. In the first round, she defeated
Kristýna Plíšková Kristýna Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is an inactive Czech professional tennis player. Plíšková has won one singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 Ju ...
in two tight sets and later 17th seed
Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh is the feminine form of the Old English name Ashley, which means "dweller near the ash tree forest". It is most common in the United States and United Kingdom. Notable people B *Ashleigh Ball (born 1983), Canadian voice actress * Ashle ...
in the second round. Then, she defeated 11th seed Julia Görges to set up a fourth-round match against 28th seed
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2 ...
, whom she had beaten 18 consecutive times since 2004. Williams withdrew owing to an injury to her
pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectorali ...
muscle sustained in a third-round match in doubles where she and Venus were defeated by
Andreja Klepač Andreja Klepač (born 13 March 1986) is a professional Slovenian tennis player. On 14 July 2008, Klepač reached her career-high singles rankings of world No. 99. On 11 April 2022, she peaked at No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings. Career She ha ...
and
María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...
. In July, Williams entered the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...
and was controversially seeded #25. With a world ranking at the time of 181, many felt that the decision showed bias and favored Williams unduly. Others argued that the
All England Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam ...
, who do not base their seedings on players' current world rankings – as other grand slam tournaments do– had sensibly considered Williams's excellent historic record there. Williams herself said: "I was pleasantly surprised. I came in here expecting that maybe I wouldn't get a seed." Her seeding resulted in
Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win ...
losing her place to be seeded. By the second week of the tournament, for the first time in grand slam history, none of the top ten seeded women players had made it to the quarterfinals. En route to the quarterfinals, Williams had beaten Arantxa Rus of Holland in round one,
Viktoriya Tomova Viktoriya Konstantinova Tomova ( bg, Виктория Константинова Томова, born 25 February 1995) is a professional Bulgarian tennis player. Tomova reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of 89 achieved on 31 October 2022. ...
of Bulgaria in round 2,
Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a nine-time Grand Slam c ...
of France in round 3 and Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in round 4. She had not lost a set in any of her matches till then. Williams then beat Italian Camila Giorgi in the quarterfinals after losing one set, and became the lowest ranked player to ever reach the Wimbledon semifinals. She met 13th seed Julia Görges of Germany in the semifinal and beat her comfortably in two sets to reach her tenth Wimbledon final, the first since giving birth. She lost in the final in straight sets to
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wi ...
of Germany in a rematch of the 2016 Wimbledon final. Following her Wimbledon finals run, Williams entered the 2018 Silicon Valley Classic, her first appearance in a US Open series tournament since 2015. She recorded her most lopsided loss in her career to
Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
in the first round, winning just a single game. Williams later revealed in an interview with ''Time'' that she checked Instagram ten minutes prior to the match starting, and found out that the man who had fatally shot her half-sister, Yetunde, in 2003 was released on parole earlier in the year. She said in the interview, "I couldn't shake it out of my mind." Williams's next tournament was the Cincinnati Masters. She beat
Daria Gavrilova Daria Saville (née Gavrilova, born 5 March 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. She represented Russia until 2015, before emigrating to Australia. She competed under her maiden name until her marriage to Luke Saville in 20 ...
of Australia in straight sets in the first round, but lost to
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...
in the second round in a three-set match that lasted over two hours. Her next tournament was the 2018 US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, where she was seeded 17th, although ranked 26th in the WTA ranking at the time seeds were determined. She defeated Magda Linette in the first round,
Carina Witthöft Carina Witthöft (also spelled Witthoeft, born 16 February 1995) is an inactive German professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour whereas on the ITF Women's Circuit, she has won eleven singles titles and one doubles ...
in the second round, her sister and 16th seed Venus in the third round,
Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset speci ...
in the fourth round, and 8th seed Karolína Plíšková in the quarterfinals. The match against Plíšková was a rematch of the 2016 US Open semifinal, which Plíšková had won. This was Williams's first win against a player in the top 10 (at the time of the match) since her return from pregnancy. Williams won her semifinal match against 19th seed
Anastasija Sevastova Anastasija Sevastova (born 13 April 1990) is an inactive professional tennis player from Latvia. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in October 2018, after reaching her first Premier Mandatory final at the China Open. She ...
of Latvia, winning a spot in the women's singles final against Naomi Osaka of Japan which she lost in straight sets. Williams was warned for illegal coaching, penalized a point for breaking her racket, and then penalized a game for verbal abuse of the chair umpire.


2019: Return to the top 10, injuries, Wimbledon and US Open runner-up

Williams started her 2019 season at the Australian Open, having not made an appearance at the tournament since winning the 2017 edition. Seeded 16th, she defeated
Tatjana Maria Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won two singles ...
,
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; french: Eugénie Bouchard, ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian tennis player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam t ...
, and
Dayana Yastremska Dayana Oleksandrivna Yastremska ( uk, Даяна Олександрівна Ястремська; born 15 May 2000) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 21 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). ...
in the first three rounds, before defeating top seed and world number one
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
in the fourth. In the quarterfinals, she met 7th seed Karolína Plíšková. Plíšková won the first set and lead in the second, but Williams took control of the match, winning the second and rapidly taking a huge lead in the third. However, after Williams twisted her ankle while up match point, Plíšková won six consecutive games, saving four match points throughout the set to win the match. This was Williams's earliest defeat at the Australian Open since her fourth-round loss in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, and broke a streak of fourteen consecutive match wins in Grand Slam quarterfinals (having last lost a Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2013 Australian Open). Despite this loss, her ranking climbed up to number 11. Williams went on to defeat
Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...
in the second round of the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is ...
in her 2019 campaign for a third Indian Wells crown. In the third round, viral illness caused her to retire against Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza. This was the second consecutive year she had exited at this stage. She then sustained a recurrence of a long-term knee injury which caused her to pull out of Miami and Rome after playing one match. She could not train properly until after the French Open, where she lost in the third round. At Wimbledon, Williams reached a major final for the 13th consecutive year. She also became the oldest grand slam finalist in the open era. She lost the final to
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
in two straight sets in under an hour. At the Canadian Open, Williams defeated Naomi Osaka in straight sets in the quarterfinals and Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova in three sets in the semi finals. Against Canadian teenager
Bianca Andreescu Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Andreescu ...
, she retired in the first set after 19 minutes. She told the chair umpire of her decision to retire because of back spasms. Her back problems continued at the Cincinnati Open, where she withdrew shortly before her first-round match, stating, "Unfortunately my back is still not right." Williams was seeded eighth at the US Open. In the first round she met Maria Sharapova for the first time since the 2016 Australian Open, defeating her in straight sets, yielding just one game in each set. She defeated
Caty McNally Catherine "Caty" McNally (born November 20, 2001) is an American tennis player. She achieved her highest doubles ranking of world No. 11 on 4 April 2022. On 7 November 2022, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 94. She is best known ...
in three sets in the second round, and
Karolína Muchová Karolína Muchová (; born 21 August 1996) is a Czech tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19, achieved on 17 May 2021. Muchová has reached two finals on the WTA Tour, winning one title, the International-level Kore ...
and Petra Martić in straight games in the third and fourth. In the quarterfinals she faced 18th seed Wang Qiang, who she overcame in just 45 minutes, yielding a single game. In the semifinals she defeated fifth seed Elina Svitolina, proceeding to the final where she faced 15th seed Bianca Andreescu for the second time in under a month. With Andreescu up a set and five games to one in the second set, Williams launched a spirited comeback to level the set at 5-games-all. However, Andreescu was able to hold serve and break Williams to win the title in straight sets. This was Williams's last match of the year which she ended ranked No. 10.


2020: First title since maternity leave

Top-seeded Williams won her first singles title as a mother at the 2020 ASB Classic, defeating Jessica Pegula in the final. She also reached the finals in the doubles tournament with
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
; the pair were defeated by
Asia Muhammad Asia Muhammad (born April 4, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, Muhammad has won seven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, four doubles titles on WTA Challenger Tour as well as 13 singles and 35 doubles titles o ...
and Taylor Townsend. Hence, she became the first woman in the professional era with at least one title in four decades: the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Williams's next tournament was the 2020 Australian Open where she was seeded 8th. She defeated
Anastasia Potapova Anastasia Sergeyevna Potapova (born 30 March 2001) is a Russian tennis player. Potapova has a career-high ranking of No. 44 achieved on 17 October 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 44 achieved on 3 October 2022. Potapova is a former junior No ...
and
Tamara Zidanšek Tamara Zidanšek (; born 26 December 1997) is a Slovenian tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 22 in singles and No. 54 in doubles, and is the current number-one Slovene tennis player in singles. She has won one singles title an ...
in the first and second rounds respectively in straight sets, before falling to Wang Qiang in three tight sets in the third round. On the resumption of the WTA Tour following a pause caused by COVID-19, Williams entered the Top Seed Open as the top seed. Following a tough three-set win over
Bernarda Pera Bernarda Pera ( ; ; born 3 December 1994) is a Croatian-born American tennis player. Pera has won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, along with nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She achieved career-h ...
in the first round, Williams faced her sister
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
for their 31st WTA match in the second round and came through after dropping the first set. Williams went on to suffer a shock defeat in the quarter finals to fellow American
Shelby Rogers Shelby Rogers (born October 13, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of world No. 30 in singles achieved August 2022 and No. 40 in doubles, achieved February 2022, and has won six singles and two doub ...
. At the Cincinnati Open, played in New York, Williams received a bye in the first round, beat Arantxa Rus in the second, and lost to
Maria Sakkari Maria Sakkari ( gr, Μαρία Σάκκαρη, ; born 25 July 1995) is a Greek professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 21 March 2022, making her ...
in three sets in the third round. Williams was seeded 3rd at the second major of the year, the 2020 US Open. After two straight sets victories to begin with, Williams faced former grand slam champion
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in to ...
in the third round, winning in three sets. In the fourth round, Williams avenged her loss to Sakkari in the previous tournament. In the quarter-finals, she defeated
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( bg, Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been not ...
of Bulgaria who was playing in her first tournament in three years after giving birth. She thus advanced into the semifinals, where she faced
Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...
, losing in three sets. Her match with Azarenka marked the first time two mothers met in a Grand Slam semi-final. She also became the first player in history to reach the semifinals of Grand slam and US Open in four decades: the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Williams was seeded 6th at the delayed
2020 French Open The 2020 French Open was a major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was first moved to 20 Septem ...
held in cold and heavy conditions in October. After defeating Kristie Ahn in straight sets in the first round, Williams withdrew before her second round match against wildcard
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( bg, Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been not ...
, citing an achilles injury she had sustained during her semi-final defeat to Azarenka at the US Open. This meant for the first time since 2006, Serena failed to reach a Grand Slam final.


2021: Australian Open semifinal, out of top 40

Williams started the year by playing the Yarra Valley Classic, where she withdrew prior to her semifinal match against the top seed,
Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh is the feminine form of the Old English name Ashley, which means "dweller near the ash tree forest". It is most common in the United States and United Kingdom. Notable people B *Ashleigh Ball (born 1983), Canadian voice actress * Ashle ...
citing a right shoulder injury. In the Australian Open Williams was seeded 10th and lost to the 4th seed, Naomi Osaka, in the semifinal after defeating 2nd seed,
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
, and 7th seed,
Aryna Sabalenka Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka ( be, Арына Сяргееўна Сабаленка; russian: Арина Сергеевна Соболенко, ''Arina Sergeyevna Sobolenko'', born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She ha ...
, along the way. Williams's match with Osaka was the first time the two had met in a major since the infamous 2018 US Open final. When leaving the court after losing to Osaka in the Australian Open, Williams paused to acknowledge the crowd longer than she usually would. In the press conference following the match, she faced questions about whether she was bidding farewell to tennis and retiring. She said "I don't know, if I ever say farewell, I wouldn't tell anyone." In May, at the Italian Open, Serena Williams played her 1000th match of her career. She was defeated by Nadia Podoroska in the second round in straight sets. On June 29, Williams would suffer an injury during the first set in the first round at Wimbledon against Belarusian player
Aliaksandra Sasnovich Aliaksandra Aliaksandraŭna Sasnovich ( be, Аляксандра Аляксандраўна Сасновіч; born 22 March 1994) is a Belarusian tennis player. She has won eleven singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She has rea ...
, forcing her to withdraw from the competition. In August 2021, a leg injury forced Williams to withdraw from 2021 US Open. Her withdrawal saw Williams plummet nineteen places to 41st in the world, her lowest year-end ranking in 15 years.


2022: ''King Richard'' promotion, Eastbourne and Wimbledon, retirement

In December 2021, Williams announced she would not play the
2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
, citing the same leg injury. As of March 2022, she was ranked 241st. She spent much of early 2022 promoting '' King Richard'' about her father with her sisters. She appeared at several award ceremonies including the
94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after its usual late February dat ...
. Williams returned to professional play in June 2022 when she partnered up with
Ons Jabeur Ons Jabeur ( ar, أُنْس جَابِر, ʾUns Jābir, ; born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career high Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of world No. 2 achieved on 27 June 2022. Jabeur is the curr ...
in the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour 2 ...
. The pairing beat
Sara Sorribes Tormo Sara Sorribes Tormo (; born 8 October 1996) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Sorribes Tormo has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. On the ITF Circuit ...
and Marie Bouzková in the first round, and
Shuko Aoyama is a Japanese tennis player. Aoyama became a professional tennis player after graduating from Waseda University. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 182, on 9 February 2015, and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4, ...
and
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won 18 WTA, 2 WTA Challenger and 6 ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the ...
in the second. The pairing retired from the tournament afterwards owing to an injury sustained by Jabeur. Williams also entered the
2022 Wimbledon Championships The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tier tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentlemen's singles title ...
in singles, having accepted a wildcard after dropping to 1204th in the singles rankings. She lost to Harmony Tan in the first round in an over 3 hour match, the longest thus far at the tournament. In August, Williams wrote an article for Vogue, in which she announced her plans to 'evolve away' from tennis after the US Open, indicating retirement. Williams began her farwell tour by entering the 2022 Canadian Open using a protected ranking. She beat
Nuria Párrizas Díaz Nuria Párrizas Díaz is a Spanish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 45 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved in March 2022, and 320 in doubles, attained in September 20 ...
in straight sets for her first singles win in 14 months, before losing to
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
. Williams subsequently entered the 2022 Cincinnati Masters, in which she lost to reigning US Open champion
Emma Raducanu Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022, and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the first British ...
in the first round. Before the US Open, Williams announced she would play doubles with Venus for the first time since 2018. Their opening-round match marked the first time a first-round doubles match was held in the
Arthur Ashe Stadium Arthur Ashe Stadium is a tennis stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament and has a capacity of 23,771, ...
during television primetime. The sisters lost to the Czech duo of Lucie Hradecká and Linda Nosková. In singles, Williams won her opening-round match against
Danka Kovinić Danka Kovinić ( cnr, Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player. On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 in th ...
. In the second round, she upset world No. 2
Anett Kontaveit Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked Eston ...
to become the oldest woman ever to defeat a top-three ranked player. She then played what is expected to be her final match against Ajla Tomljanović, losing in three hard-fought sets.


Evolving away from tennis

In the September 2022 issue of ''Vogue'', written in August, Williams announced that she was "evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me." In her announcement she said that she disliked the word "retirement" and preferred the term "evolution". She went on to cite growing her family, focusing on her venture capital firm, and spending more time with family as reasons she would be leaving the sport. While she did not set an exact time for her goodbye, she stated that she wasn't ready to win Wimbledon (where she lost in the first round), but would try to win in New York. She also said that she consulted
Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...
in her decision. At her first match since the publication of the ''Vogue'' article, where she lost to
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, tournament organizers interviewed Williams on-court after her match and gave her gifts to remember the city. At her matches at the 2022 US Open, which many believed would be her last tournament, tournament directors played a video following her opponents' introduction but before Williams' walk-out. Some saw this as disrespectful to her opponents. Following her first round match, where Woods, Mike Tyson,
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
,
Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fam ...
, Spike Lee,
Vera Wang Vera Ellen Wang (; born June 27, 1949) is an American fashion designer. Early life Vera Ellen Wang was born June 27, 1949 in New York City to Chinese parents who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1940s. Her mother, Florence Wu (Wu ...
, and
Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York ...
were in attendance, the tournament played a video narrated by Oprah Winfrey and had
Gayle King Gayle King (born December 28, 1954) is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, '' CBS Mornings'', and before that its predecessor ''CBS This Morning''. She is ...
facilitate the post-match on-court interview. Following her announcement, many fellow players, including Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, praised Williams and said they would not be playing tennis if not for her.


Playing style

Williams is an aggressive baseliner, whose game is centered around her powerful serve and forceful groundstrokes. Owing to her high-risk playing style, she typically hits a large number of both winners and unforced errors. Williams' greatest asset is her serve, which is considered the greatest in the history of women's tennis. Her serve is known for its fast pace and accurate placement, allowing her to serve numerous aces: at the 2013 Australian Open, she served a 128.6 mph (207 km/h) ace in her third round match against
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of number 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of world No. 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed grounds ...
, which is the third fastest serve recorded in WTA history. Williams possesses an accurate and consistent ball toss, allowing her to serve to any position on the court with minimal differences in the position of the ball in the air; this makes it difficult for opponents to read her service motion and predict the position of her serve, allowing her to dominate a rally from the first stroke. Williams also possesses effective and accurate kick and slice serves, which she deploys as second serves, minimising double faults, and preventing opponents from scoring free points. Williams is also known for her forceful groundstrokes, which are considered two of the most powerful shots in the history of women's tennis. She hits both her forehand and her backhand in an open stance, allowing her to generate consistently powerful, heavy, and dominating groundstrokes, and to generate sharp, acute angles, which allow her to hit winners from any position on the court. Williams is known for her forehand, which has been described as "devastating". Her forehand is hit with heavy topspin; this allows her to dominate rallies, and she is capable of hitting her forehand both crosscourt and down the line to produce winners. Her two-handed backhand is equally dominant, and has been described as one of the greatest backhands of all time. Williams tends to hit her backhand flatter than her forehand, allowing her to hit her backhand with speed, power, and depth both crosscourt and down the line. Despite playing primarily from the baseline, Williams is an adept net player thanks to her extensive doubles experience, and will frequently choose to finish points at the net, either with deft touch, aggressive drive volleys, or a solid, powerful, and reliable overhead smash. Williams possesses an aggressive return of serve – she neutralises powerful first serves, and attacks weak second serves. She is widely considered one of the greatest return players of all time. Despite predominantly employing an aggressive game style, she is also an excellent defender, and is capable of counterpunching against aggressive opponents until she creates an opportunity to hit a winner. She is an exceptional athlete, known for her movement, speed, court coverage, agility, flexibility, balance, and footwork. Her on-court intelligence, shot selection, and point construction allow her to execute her gamestyle effectively. She has been praised for her mental strength and competitive spirit, with her being described as one of the toughest opponents to beat on the court; Martina Navratilova declared her mental strength "unbelievable", whilst tennis journalist
Jon Wertheim Lewis Jonathan Wertheim (born 1970 in Bloomington, Indiana) is a sports journalist and author. He has been a full-time staff member for ''Sports Illustrated'' since 1996 and is currently the Executive Editor. He has covered tennis, the NBA, spor ...
claimed that Williams is the toughest player of all time. American tennis player
Christina McHale Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles. Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
praised her composure in high pressure moments, stating that, for Williams, "being clutch is like breathing", and that she "seems to come through every single time in the most pressure-packed situations". She has been noted for her ability to produce extraordinary comebacks, particularly on the Grand Slam level, winning three Slams after saving match points, a feat achieved more often than by any other player in tennis history. Williams has bounced back from a set down to win 37 Grand Slam matches; her ability to come back from set and break deficits in Grand Slam matches was described by
John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
as "a gift", and McEnroe declared that she was "the greatest" competitor in the history of women's tennis. She has also been praised for her ability to serve aces at critical moments. As noted by retired player
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...
in 2016, "break point down, here is an80% chance heserves an ace". Owing to her exceptional serve, powerful groundstrokes, technical mastery, aggressive return of serve, athleticism, and mental strength, Williams has been described as one of the most complete players on tour, and one of the greatest players of all time, irrespective of gender. Williams has stated that her favourite surface is clay, as the slow pace and high bounce afforded aids point construction, although she also excels on faster hard and grass courts.


Rivalries


Serena vs. Venus

Williams has played older sister
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
in 31 professional matches since 1998. Overall, Serena is 19–12 against her sister. Serena has played Venus 15 times in Grand Slam singles and 13 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals). They have met in nine Grand Slam tournament finals, with Serena winning seven times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, which was the first time in the Open Era that the same two players had contested four consecutive finals in Grand Slam singles.


Williams vs. Hingis

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


Williams vs. Capriati

Williams leads the series against
Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics ...
10–7. Once considered one of the best rivalries in women's tennis, the competition between Williams and Capriati was stiff with 12 out of 17 meetings going three sets. The rivalry, starting in 1999, began one sided with Capriati winning four of their first five matches. Williams would then go on to win the next eight. Williams and Capriati played with similar styles, both known for using their power and athleticism to gain quick advantages in points.


Williams vs. Henin

Williams leads the series 8–6.
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in tenni ...
and Williams met 14 times, five of which were in tournament finals. In majors they have faced each other seven times with Henin leading 4–3. Opposite personalities and styles of play are often cited as what made their rivalry entertaining. In the semifinals of the
2003 French Open The 2003 French Open was the second Grand Slam event of 2003 and the 107th edition of the French Open. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 26 through June 8, 2003. Both Albert Costa and Serena Williams were unsu ...
, when at 4–2, 30–0 on Williams's serve in the third set, Henin raised her hand to indicate she was not ready to receive; Williams then put her serve into the net. The umpire did not see Henin raise her hand, and thus did not allow Williams a first serve. Williams lost the game and would go on to lose the match. Their last match took place in the final of the 2010 Australian Open where Williams won in three sets to take her 12th major title.


Williams vs. Azarenka

Williams leads the series 18–5. The rivalry began at the 2008 Australian Open, and their most recent match was in the semifinals of the 2020 US Open. Williams holds a 10–1 record in Grand Slams. Azarenka is the only person to ever win four WTA tour level finals against Williams. While their rivalry is heavily favored towards Williams, their matches are known for their fierce competitiveness, and Azarenka is considered the only player to truly challenge Williams following the retirement of Capriati, Henin, and Hingis, with 9 of their matches extending to three sets.


Williams vs. Sharapova

Williams leads the series 20–2. The pair first met in the fourth round of the 2004 Miami Open, where Williams defeated Sharapova 6–4, 6–3. Their rivalry truly began at the 2004 Wimbledon final, where Williams was the two-time defending champion; Sharapova upset her 6–1, 6–4. Williams next lost to Sharapova in the finals of the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6. Since then, however, Williams dominated the rivalry, winning all of their clashes, with only three of their matches going to three sets. They met 10 times in Grand Slam tournaments, where Williams led 9–1, and they further met in 9 finals, with Williams leading 7–2. Sharapova retired in February 2020, with their final match being in the first round of the 2019 US Open; Williams defeated Sharapova 6–1, 6–1 in one hour exactly. Despite the one-sided nature of their rivalry, it is considered one of the most prominent rivalries on the WTA Tour of the 21st century, due to alleged personality clashes, similarly aggressive playing styles, and significant media interest.


Match controversies


Accusations of match fixing

When both of the Williams sisters entered the top ten and started meeting in tournaments, rumors of match fixing started to circulate.
John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
, while commenting on the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters, said that "Serena may not be allowed to win. Richard illiamsmay have something to say about this." After losing to Venus at the Indian Wells quarterfinals in 2001,
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
asserted during a post-match interview that Richard Williams decided the results of matches between the two sisters. Shortly after that, Venus Williams pulled out of her Indian Wells semifinal match against Serena Williams at the last minute, claiming
tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elbo ...
; this occurrence garnered much speculation in the press, and some fans demanded their money back.


Indian Wells boycott

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


2004 US Open

In her US Open quarterfinal match against
Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics ...
, an incorrect overrule was made by chair umpire Mariana Alves; the video review showed that Williams's shot landed in bounds. In the same match, new technology being tested made incorrect line calls late in the third set. Williams argued with the chair over a couple of calls during the match, but was not successful. Capriati won the match, with Serena herself acknowledging that this was primarily due to her 57 unforced errors; nevertheless, she accused Alves of temporary insanity and said that she "felt cheated." In a post-match interview Capriati sharply observed that bad calls had gone against her in the past as well. Alves did not officiate for the remainder of the tournament; this was not punitive, as commonly thought, as she was not scheduled to officiate. The controversy renewed calls for, and was widely given credit for, the adoption of technology such as the MacCAM and Hawk-Eye systems.


2009 US Open

In the US Open semifinal round against
Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...
, Williams slammed her racket on the court after losing the first 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 racket to the lineswoman who had made the call and yelled at her, with profanities and a threat to shove a tennis ball down the lineswoman's throat. 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?" The incident resulted in Williams being penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conductnecessitated by the earlier warning for racket abusemeaning Clijsters won the match 64, 75. The following day, Williams was issued the maximum permissible on-site fine of $10,000 (plus $500 for racket abuse). After further investigation, the Grand Slam Committee in November 2009 fined her $175,000 in place of suspending her from the 2010 US Open or other Grand Slam events. They also placed her on a two-year probation which provided that if Williams committed another offense at a Grand Slam event in the next two years, she would be suspended from participating in the following US Open. If, however, she committed no offenses within the next two years, her fine would be reduced to $82,500. Williams initially refused to apologize for her outburst, both in her post-match press conference and in an official statement released the following day.Pucin, Diane
Serena Williams is fined $10,500 for tirade at U.S. Open
''Los Angeles Times'' (September 13, 2009)
She eventually did apologize, stating "I just really wanted to apologize sincerely because I'm a very prideful person, and I'm a very intense person and a very emotional person", and "I wanted to offer my sincere apologies to anyone that I may have offended." She said she was humbled by the experience.


2011 US Open

In the final of the 2011 US Open against
Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
, Williams shouted "Come on!" as the Australian attempted to return a forehand Williams believed to be a winner. The chair umpire
Eva Asderaki Eva Asderaki ( el, Εύα Ασδεράκη, born 27 January 1982), also known by her married name Eva Asderaki-Moore, is a Greek tennis umpire, who has umpired international tennis matches since 2001. She has umpired at all four Grand Slam to ...
awarded the point to Stosur based on the ITF'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." 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 the umpire ever saw Serena coming toward her, she should "look the other way". Williams initially gained momentum in the set following the penalty, breaking back in the next game, but eventually flagged and lost the match, 2–6, 3–6. At the end of the match, she declined to offer the customary handshake to Asderaki. Williams mentioned the incident in her post-match speech as the tournament runner-up, asserting, "I hit a winner, but I guess it didn't count", but added, "It wouldn't have mattered in the end. Sam played well." A writer for
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
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 Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
in addressing Asderaki during the match. 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, idnot rise to the level of a major offence under the Grand Slam code of conduct."


2018 US Open

Williams's 2018 US Open ended in controversy with Williams falling to Naomi Osaka in straight sets following a game penalty in the second set of the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
. During that second set, she was given a code violation because her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, gave her coaching hand signals. Williams was upset by the violation, claiming that her coach was simply giving her a thumbs up, and demanded an apology from chair umpire Carlos Ramos. Mouratoglou later admitted that he was coaching. She received a second violation for smashing her racket on the court, which resulted in a point penalty. After her third code violation for verbal abuse against the umpire, Williams was assessed a game penalty. Williams said that she believed she was treated unfairly by the umpire because she is a woman. Williams was fined a total of $17,000 including $4,000 for a coaching violation, $3,000 for racket abuse and $10,000 for verbal abuse towards the umpire.


Other issues

In the beginning years of Williams's professional career, hair beads donned by the Williams sisters were the focus of discussion by commentators such as Chris Evert and John McEnroe, with Mary Carillo characterizing their hair as "noisy and disruptive." The beads often broke and scattered across the court. Scholar Nancy E. Spencer said that commentary that dismissed the Williams' cultural hairstyles served to "other" the sisters, particularly in the context of a white dominated sport where their appearance and specifically their physicality is a popular topic for discussion. Following the match controversy at the 2018 US Open final between Williams and Naomi Osaka, the Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun published a cartoon by Mark Knight depicting Williams having a tantrum and breaking her racket while the umpire asks her opponent to "just let her win." The cartoon was widely criticized as racist and sexist, including by Williams's husband, Reddit co-founder
Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Ste ...
, and author
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
. Complaints centered around the portrayal of Williams as an angry black woman with exaggerated large lips, a broad flat nose, and positioned in an ape-like pose, and the portrayal of Williams's opponent, Osaka, who is half-Japanese, half-Haitian, with blonde hair. At least some of these criticisms were inaccurate; video and photos from the 2018 US Open women's final show that Osaka's naturally dark hair was in fact dyed blonde at that time. The editor of the Herald Sun argued the cartoon was unfairly criticized on social media. Knight defended his work, saying that his satire was never about race or gender, but was about putting a spotlight on bad behaviour by sporting superstars. In the immediate aftermath of the controversy he suspended his Twitter account to "protect his family and friends." In September 2019, Romanian television host Radu Banciu made the following comments during a live broadcast: "Serena Williams looks exactly like one of those monkeys at the zoo with the red asses."National Council for Combating Discrimination in Bucharest press release, translated in Romania's National Council for Combating Discrimination fined Banciu approximately $1,875 for his comments.


Legacy

Williams is considered one of the best female tennis players of all time. In 2017,
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
users picked Williams as the greatest female tennis player of the Open Era. BBC presenter and former French Open Champion, Sue Barker, said "Serena is the greatest because this era is so much more competitive than previous eras. The pace she generates – her serve is without question the greatest ever – combined with her movement and her power, she pushes her opponents constantly on the back foot". In 2018, a Tennis.com panel selected Serena as the greatest female tennis player in the Open Era. Many commentators, players and sports writers regard Williams as the greatest woman tennis player of all time. In 2018, Federer said the player who probably had the best case for tennis "Greatest Of All Time", man or woman, was Serena Williams. In 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest woman tennis player of all time. In 2022,
John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
described Williams as an "icon" and the "GOAT of GOATs". Alongside her sister
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
, Williams has been widely credited with increasing diversity within the sport:
It all starts with Venus and Serena. The demonstration effect. The power of seeing two African-American girls with braids in the finals of the biggest tournaments in the world in a predominantly white sport. Just a huge impact that really can't be overstated. That attracted thousands of girls into the sport, not just African-American but all backgrounds and races. — Martin Blackman, General Manager of Player Development,
United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
Former U.S. Open champion
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in to ...
, French Open finalist Coco Gauff and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, have thanked Williams, saying that they never would've picked up a racket, if it was not for her. Osaka said "If you look at everyone that's our skin colour, clearly we followed her. I think I'm a product of what she's done. I wouldn't be here without Serena, Venus, her whole family". For their first match of March 2019, the women of the
United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...
each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back;
Crystal Dunn Crystal Alyssia Soubrier (; born July 3, 1992) is an American soccer player for the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States ...
chose the name of Serena Williams. In December 2019, The Associated Press named Williams Female Athlete of the Decade for the 2010s. In September 2022, Twitter said that Williams was the most tweeted about female athlete ever.


Personal life

Williams is married to
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
co-founder
Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Ste ...
. He proposed to her on December 10, 2016, in Rome. On December 30, 2016, Williams announced their engagement in a Reddit post. They married on November 16, 2017, in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. Guests at the wedding included Beyoncé,
Anna Wintour Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...
,
Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the gr ...
and
Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...
. She planned to move to San Francisco with Ohanian after the wedding. On April 19, 2017, Williams posted a sideways picture of herself on Snapchat that focused on her midsection; it had the caption, "20 weeks", prompting speculation that she was pregnant. Later that evening, her spokesperson confirmed the pregnancy. The fact that she was 20 weeks pregnant when announcing her pregnancy meant that she was eight weeks pregnant when she won the Australian Open earlier that year. Williams later said that posting the picture on Snapchat was an accident, and that she had intended to save the photo for her records. In September 2017, Williams gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, who is often referred to as "Olympia". She had an emergency caesarean-section delivery due to the baby's heart rate dropping during labor and was at first devastated about it. She suffered a
pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
after giving birth, leaving her bedridden for six weeks and delaying her return to training. (This encounter was not her first with the disease venous thromboembolism; she had been hospitalized in 2011 for pulmonary embolism thought to have originated from a
deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enla ...
.) In August 2018, she revealed she was suffering from
postpartum depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and cha ...
. Williams gave her daughter a doll, Qai Qai, that has become famous on social media. She has also faced many questions whether she would raise her daughter to play tennis to which she answered saying she has already hired a coach for her daughter. She also posts many pictures of her and her daughter on the tennis court with rackets. Williams was raised a
Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
, but states she has "never really practiced it". She often thanks Jehovah after winning matches. Williams confirmed that she follows some practices: "Olympia doesn't celebrate birthdays. We're Jehovah's Witnesses, so we don't do that." Williams' current agent is former player
Jill Smoller Jill Smoller (born September 4, 1964) is an American sports agent and former professional tennis player. Considered a pioneer for women sports agents, Smoller started her career in the late 1990s and counts Allyson Felix and Serena Williams as so ...
.


Off-court activities


Equipment and endorsements

In the early 2000s, Williams wore Puma apparel and footwear on court. Williams signed a five-year endorsement deal with
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
in 2004 for $40 million, and has been endorsed by the company for clothing, apparel, and footwear ever since. Nike designs custom clothing for Williams, which she wears on the court along with custom footwear. She used the Wilson Hammer Stretch range of racquets when she won her first Grand Slam title in 1999, before switching to the Hyper Hammer range. She switched to the Wilson nCode briefly in 2005, and has used various iterations of the Wilson Blade racquet since 2008. Her racquet is typically oversized, with a head size of 104 square inches. Since 2017, Wilson has manufactured a signature racquet, the Wilson Blade SW104, which is designed to Williams's specifications. Since 2020, Williams has used a smaller variant of this racquet, the Wilson Blade SW102 Autograph. Williams also has endorsement deals with Gatorade,
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...
,
Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet Holding SA () is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring ...
, Aston Martin,
Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...
, Beats by Dre headphones, Mission Athletecare, Berlei bras,
OPI Products OPI Products, branded as O·P·I, is an American nail polish manufacturer headquartered in Calabasas, California and a subsidiary of Coty Inc.. History OPI, originally named Odontorium Products Inc., was a small dental supply company purc ...
, OnePiece, IBM,
Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
,
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
, Tempur and
Chase Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fin ...
. Williams is the current CSO (Chief Sporting Officer) for British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin. She accepted the contract in June 2015. Williams then posted her first experience on social media service
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, and said: "I'm loving my first day on the job as Chief Sporting Officer and Director of Fun!", stating her optimism on the job as the CSO. Williams is also on the board of directors at
SurveyMonkey Momentive Inc. (formerly SurveyMonkey Inc.) is an experience management company that offers cloud-based software in brand insights, market insights, product experience, employee experience, customer experience, online survey development, and a s ...
.


Fashion

Williams has been noted for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. In 2002, there was much talk when she wore a black lycra catsuit at the US Open. At the 2004 US Open, Williams wore denim skirts and knee-high boots—tournament officials did not allow her to wear the boots during matches. At the 2008 Wimbledon, the white trench coat she wore during warm-up for her opening match was the subject of much discussion since it was worn despite sunny weather. Some social scientists have argued that the most negative reactions to Williams's on-court fashion statements, especially in newspaper coverage of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, combines with writers' fixation upon her muscular body to distract from her on-court accomplishments and fit this commentary within centuries-old narratives of the "pornographic eroticism" and "sexual grotesquerie" of African and African-American women. Williams formerly had a special line with Puma. In April 2004, she signed a deal worth US$40million for a line with
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
. Since 2004, she has also run her own line of designer apparel, "Aneres"—her first name spelled backward. In 2009, she launched a signature collection of handbags and jewelry. The collection, Signature Statement, is sold mainly on the Home Shopping Network (HSN). In early 2010, Williams became a certified
nail technician A manicurist or nail technician is a person whose occupation is to style and shape a person's nails. This is achieved using a combination of decorating nails with coloured varnish, transfers, gems or glitter. Basic treatments include manicures a ...
in preparation for her upcoming nail collection with a company called HairTech. 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. In 2015, she also presented her HSN Signature Statement collection for the second time at the New York Fashion Week Showa clothing line exclusively made for the retailer HSN. In May 2018, she wore a skin-tight catsuit at the
2018 French Open The 2018 French Open was a major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. J ...
that likened a superhero outfit and helped promote her new clothing line, ''Serena''. The outfit was subsequently banned by the French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli, with the explanation: "It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place." Williams then wore a black tutu to her first match at the 2018 US Open on August 27, 2018, against Magda Linette which she dominated in straight sets. In February 2019, Serena Williams was appointed to the board of directors of online fashion marketplace Poshmark. In Fall 2019, Williams launched the first collection of her sustainable clothing line, S by Serena. Inspired by 1990s street wear, S by Serena collections are shown on a range of body types and sizes (ranging from XS to 3X), highlighting the line's focus on inclusivity.


Activism

Williams has become more involved in social change as her career has progressed, primarily using social media as a medium of expressing her views. In 2016 she posted her support of
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
on her
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page, voicing her concern about her young nephew being in danger from police officers owing to his skin color. During American tennis player
Tennys Sandgren Tennys Sandgren II ( ; born July 22, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 41 on January 14, 2019. He broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings toward the end of 2017 after comp ...
's breakthrough run to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Australian Open, it was revealed that he tweeted insensitive words about the
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...
community, followed members of the alt-right, and referred to an article describing Williams's on-court behavior as "disgusting". Williams responded by tweeting her displeasure, saying, "@TennysSandgren I don't need or want one. But there is an entire group of people that deserves an apology. I can't look at my daughter and tell her I sat back and was quiet. No! She will know how to stand up for herself and others – through my example." Additionally, she attached an image that read, "Maturity is being able to apologize and admit when you're wrong because you know that your mistakes don't define you". Also in 2016, Serena Williams wrote an open letter in Porter Magazine's "Incredible Women of 2016" to speak out about gender equality and her personal struggles as a woman in tennis. She noted that women's contributions to the sport of tennis are not recognized in the way men's contributions are recognized; she also called out issues of equal pay in tennis. She ended the letter stating that she hoped that her letter would inspire a new generation of women to "push for greatness and follow their dreams with steadfast resilience." Williams received several awards for her activism, namely those directed towards Black communities. She was listed among the 35 "most remarkable and beautiful black women" in the world by Essence magazine. The NAACP honored Williams with the President's Award at the annual NAACP Image Awards. Williams, in 2014, founded the equity company "Serena Ventures." The firm's goal is to help start-up companies whose perspectives and innovations level the playing field for women and people of color.


Entertainment

Williams has appeared on television and also provided voice work on animated shows: in a 2001 episode of ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' Serena joined the animation along with sister Venus, Pete Sampras and
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...
. 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 Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
cartoon ''
Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...
'', which she has described as her "favorite show". Williams has posed for the 2003 and 2004 editions of the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue''. 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''; she has also guest-starred in episodes of ''
The Bernie Mac Show ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001 to April 14, 2006. The series featured Bernie ...
'', '' ER'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. In 2007, Williams appeared in the music video of "I Want You" by the American rapper Common, alongside performers
Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
and
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
. In late 2009, Williams became the first active female professional athlete to appear in a
feminine hygiene Feminine hygiene products are personal care products used during menstruation, vaginal discharge, and other bodily functions related to the vulva and vagina. Products that are used during menstruation may also be called menstrual hygiene product ...
product advertising campaign. A series of online videos and print advertisements for
Tampax Tampax (a portmanteau of tampon and pack) is a brand of tampon currently owned by Procter & Gamble. It was based in White Plains, New York, US until its sale to Procter & Gamble in 1997. It is a subsidiary of P&G's Always brand and is sold in o ...
Pearl
tampon A tampon is a menstrual product designed to absorb blood and vaginal secretions by insertion into the vagina during menstruation. Unlike a pad, it is placed internally, inside of the vaginal canal. Once inserted correctly, a tampon is held in ...
s showed her hitting balls at Mother Nature, played by
Catherine Lloyd Burns Catherine Lloyd Burns is an American actress and author. She is best known for her role as Caroline Miller, the title character's teacher in the television series ''Malcolm in the Middle''. Acting She has appeared in multiple television sho ...
, to prevent Mother Nature giving her a red-wrapped gift, representing her
menstrual period The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs ...
. 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 The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
. In July 2012, she appeared on ABC's comedic improv TV series '' Trust Us with Your Life'' and as a lawyer on Lifetime's television series ''
Drop Dead Diva ''Drop Dead Diva'' is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that aired on Lifetime from July 12, 2009, to June 22, 2014. The series was created by Josh Berman and produced by Sony Pictures Television. It stars Brooke Elliott ...
''. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Pac-Man, Williams made a cameo appearance in the film ''
Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...
'', which starred Adam Sandler and Kevin James, and premiered on July 24, 2015. Williams is known to be close to Beyoncé and made a cameo appearance dancing in Beyoncé's music video for the song '' Sorry'' in the hit album ''
Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using ...
''. Williams said the director told her, "We would love for you to be in this particular song. It's about strength and it's about courage and that's what we see you as." In 2021, Williams signed a
first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...
with
Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...
. She makes a cameo appearance as himself in the 2022
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
film '' Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery''.


Language fluency

In addition to English as her
native language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
, Williams also speaks conversational French and knows some Spanish and Italian. At the 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018 French Open she gave her on-court interviews in French much to the crowd's delight.


Miami Dolphins venture

In August 2009, Williams and her sister Venus became minority owners of the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
after purchasing a small stake in the team. They live near each other in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which is about an hour's drive from the Dolphins' stadium. They are the first black women to hold any amount of ownership in an NFL franchise.


Charity work

In 2004 and 2005, Serena and her sister, Venus, visited hospitals and played several tennis matches in predominantly black cities to raise money for the local Ronald McDonald House charities. An ESPN episode was dedicated to the Williams sisters' charity tour. In 2008, as part of the Serena Williams Foundation's work, Williams helped to fund the construction of the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya. The Serena Williams Foundation also provides university scholarships for underprivileged students in the United States. In 2016, the Serena Williams Fund partnered with Helping Hands Jamaica to build the Salt Marsh Primary School for Jamaican youth in
Trelawny Parish Trelawny (Jamaican Patois: ''Trilaani'' or ''Chrilaani'') is a parish in the county of Cornwall in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizab ...
. She received a Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundation in 2003 for work in breast cancer. 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. 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). In response to the
2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...
, 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 would go to the Haiti earthquake victims. Serena, along with her sister Venus, is a supporter and contributor of First Serve Miami, a foundation for youth who want to learn tennis but are socially and economically challenged. She has been an International Goodwill Ambassador with
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
since 2011 and has helped launch UNICEF's Schools for Asia campaign. In addition to the Serena Williams Fund in 2016, Serena and Venus collaborated on the Williams Sisters Fund to work on philanthropic projects together. Also in 2016, in their childhood home of Compton, California Serena and Venus teamed up to found the Yetunde Price Resource Center, in honor of their late sister. The Resource Center provides services to families affected by community violence. Williams's return to Indian Wells in 2015 was done in partnership with the
Equal Justice Initiative The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization, based in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and oth ...
, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation to those who might have been denied a fair trial. EJI executive director
Bryan Stevenson Bryan Stevenson (born November 14, 1959) is an American lawyer, social justice activist, law professor at New York University School of Law, and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, h ...
lauded her courage in supporting his organization. "It's so rare when athletes at the top of their game are willing to embrace a set of issues that, for a lot of people, are edgier", he said. "This is not aid to orphans. ... She was standing when a lot of her contemporaries remain seated, speaking up when others are being quiet." In 2014, Williams began hosting an annual charity run named "The Serena Williams Ultimate Fun Run". The event is in support of the Serena Williams Fund, which helps underprivileged individuals and communities that are affected by senseless violence and to ensure equal access to education of youth. In 2017, Williams became Ambassador for the Allstate Foundation's Purple Purse project, an initiative to provide financial empowerment to domestic abuse victims. In a press release, Vicky Dinges, Allstate's senior vice president of corporate responsibility, said, "we are thrilled to welcome Serena, a longtime advocate and role model for so many, to the Purple Purse family. Her voice will bring new audiences into this critical conversation." Other charitable organizations Williams supports include the
Elton John AIDS Foundation The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by rock musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care a ...
,
Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospit ...
, Hearts of Gold, the Common Ground Foundation, the Small Steps Project, the HollyRod Foundation, Beyond the Boroughs National Scholarship Fund, World Education, the Eva Longoria Foundation, the Caliber Foundation and the Cure for MND Foundation.


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. During the
2009 Wimbledon Championships The 2009 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 123rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...
, Williams said that she was in the process of writing a TV show storyline, which would be converted into script form by her agency. She stated that the show would represent subject matter from a mix of popular American television shows such as '' Desperate Housewives'' and '' Family Guy''. Williams released her first solo autobiography, entitled ''On the Line'', following the 2009 US Open.


Soccer

On July 21, 2020, Williams was announced as part of a nearly all-women investors' group that was awarded a new franchise in the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of the women's sport in the U.S. The new team is set to start play in 2022. Her husband Alexis Ohanian is classified as the "lead investor", but he holds a minority interest, and is the only male in the ownership group. Other announced owners include several prominent actresses and media figures, two businesswomen, 14 former members of the U.S. women's national team, and her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian.


Career statistics


Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

''Current through the 2022 US Open.''
Note: ''Williams withdrew from the 2018 French Open before her fourth round match and the 2020 French Open before her second round match, both of which do not officially count as losses.''


Grand Slam tournament finals


Singles: 33 (23–10)


Women's doubles: 14 (14–0)


Mixed doubles: 4 (2–2)


Records

Williams has won a record 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hard court. She holds the Open Era record for most women's singles titles at the Australian Open (7) and shares with Chris Evert the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open (6). She also holds the records for the most women's singles matches won at majors (367) and most singles majors won since turning 30 years old (10). She is the only tennis player, male or female, to win three of the four Grand Slams at least 6 times. She is also a five-time winner of the
WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations * Washington Trails Association * Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Wa ...
in the singles division. In doubles, the
Williams sisters The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were c ...
have the third most women's doubles Grand Slam titles, behind the 18 titles of
Natasha Zvereva Natallia Marataŭna Zvierava ( be, Наталля Маратаўна Зверава; russian: Наталья Маратовна Зверева, Natalia Maratovna Zvereva; born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus ...
(14 with Gigi Fernández) and the record 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Serena and Venus are the only tennis players in history with four Olympic gold medals (three in women's doubles together and one each in singles), and to win Olympic gold in the same event on three occasions. They are the only Open Era women tennis players to win Olympic Gold in both the singles and doubles categories. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Serena Williams became only the third player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at one Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody at the 1924 Summer Olympics and Venus at the
2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
. Williams is the only player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. * Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements. * Records in ''italics'' are currently active streaks.


Filmography

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


See also

* WTA Tour records *
Grand Slam (tennis) The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year, also referred to as the "Calendar-year Grand Slam" or "Calendar Slam". In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam pl ...
*
List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis. The top-ranked player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the WT ...
*
List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis. In doubles, the top-ranked team is the pair who, over the previous 52 weeks, has gathered the most WTA rankings poin ...
*
List of highest ranked tennis players per country This article lists the professional tennis players who reached the highest ranking among their compatriots during the Open Era. The rankings used are ATP rankings for men (since 23 August 1973 for singles, and 1 March 1976 for doubles) and WTA ra ...
* List of female tennis players *
List of tennis tournaments List of current and past men's and women's tennis tournaments. Criteria for inclusion: *The tournament is notable enough to have its own article on Wikipedia *Historic tournaments are included if notability can be established by reliable third par ...
*
List of tennis rivalries In tennis history there have been a number of notable rivalries. This is a list of some of the greatest rivalries. For the pre-1991 eras, complete statistics on all matches is difficult to obtain in definitive form. In many years there were sign ...
* Tennis records of the Open Era – Women's singles * All-time tennis records – women's singles * Williams sisters rivalry * List of Grand Slam women's singles champions * List of Grand Slam women's doubles champions * List of Grand Slam mixed doubles champions *
Women's sports The participation of women and girls in sports, physical fitness and exercise, has been recorded to have existed throughout history. However, participation rates and activities vary in accordance with nation, era, geography, and stage of econ ...


References


Bibliography

* * * *


External links

* * * * *
Serena Williams
video produced by '' Makers: Women Who Make America'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Serena 1981 births Living people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American designers African-American female tennis players American autobiographers American female tennis players American Jehovah's Witnesses Australian Open (tennis) champions American women ambassadors Angel City FC owners French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Hopman Cup competitors Laureus World Sports Awards winners Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in tennis Olympic tennis players of the United States People from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Shorty Award winners Sports world record holders Sportspeople from Compton, California Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Tennis people from California Tennis people from Florida Tennis people from Michigan Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Isenberg School of Management alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions Women autobiographers 20th-century African-American women Williams family (tennis) WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players ITF World Champions