 | Serena Williams biography |
Nationality: American
Height: 5'10
Weight: 145 lbs.
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Brown
Born: Born on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan.
Discovered: When Serena and her four sisters were young, their father Richard wanted at least one of his daughters to become a tennis superstar, hoping that involvement in sports would give them a way out of the harsh Compton neighborhood.
When Serena was four and a half, she won her first tournament, and she entered 49 tournaments before the age of 10, winning 46 of them. At one point, she replaced sister Venus as the number one ranked tennis player aged 12 or under in California
Income: Prize Money: $15,756,765
Resume: At age 14, in 1995, Serena became a professional. Because of her age, she had to participate in non-WTA events at first. Her first professional event was the Bell Challenge in Quebec, and she was ousted in less than an hour of play.
By 1997, ranked number 304 in the world, she upset both Monica Seles and Mary Pierce at the Ameritech Open in Chicago, Illinois, recording her first career wins over top 10 players. She finished 1997 in the top 100 at no. 99.
1998 was the first year when she finished in the WTA top 20. She began the season in Sydney as a qualifier, ranked no. 96, and she beat world no. 3 Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinal.
Serena did face tough times in 1998, when she was expected to do well in her first Grand Slam tournament, but she lost in the second round of the Australian Open to sister Venus.
Serena made a comeback and won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon and US Open with Max Mirnyi.
In 1999, Serena was ranked number 21, and went on to defeat 3 top 10 players: world no. 2 Lindsay Davenport in the second round, world no. 8 Mary Pierce in the quarterfinal, and world no. 7 Steffi Graf in the final at Indian Wells.
Due to her success Serena has been the focus of many ad campaigns, including with Puma that signed her to a $12 million agreement.
On September 11, 1999, Serena won her first Grand Slam tournament when she became US Open champion, becoming the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam tournament since Althea Gibson in 1958. The next day, she and sister Venus won the doubles championship at the same tournament. She finished 1999 ranked no. 4 in just her third full season.
Entering the Olympics, in 2000 Serena won the doubles gold medal with sister Venus.
Story continues below
2001 was the third consecutive year that Serena finished in the top 10 reaching her first Grand Slam singles final in two years. In 2002, she won the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
In 2003 Serena achieved yet anoter milestone, she won the Australian Open, her fourth straight Grand Slam singles title, becoming only the ninth woman ever to win all four Grand Slam events.
Also in 2003, there was a setback for Serena when she lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium in the French Open. The controversial semi-final match was questioned because Henin-Hardenne backed away from her position, just as Serena was about to serve at a critical point in the match. Serena missed the serve, and asked for a repeat, which was not granted. After a futile exchange with the umpire which turned the crowd against her, Serena won the point and game, but went on to lose the match.
Ever the comeback kid, at Wimbledon in 2003, Serena became back-to-back champion.
In 2004, Serena withdrew from Australian Open to continue rehabilitating her left knee. She reached the final of Wimbledon once again, but lost to the 17-year-old Russian player Maria Sharapova. The injury also forced her to pull out of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In 2005, MTV announced plans to broadcast a reality show around the lives of Serena and Venus Williams. Williams was also on Punk'd when she was trying to save a Punk'd problem kid played by Rob Pinkston until Ashton Kutcher exposed the set-up from the SUV.
Her participation in Wimbledon 2005 ended in the third round when she was beaten by fellow American Jill Craybas.
Home: Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Known For: Her fashion sense, and her endorsements for McDonald's, Nike and Wilson Racquet Sports.
Romance: Recently broke up with director Brett Ratner.
Rumors: Controversy has arisen over Williams's level of dedication to the sport. Some believe that she is far too concerned with her fashion and acting careers and has not focused enough recently on her tennis. Disappointing performances during 2004 have been cited as proof of this lack of focus.
Quotes: "Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come." - Serena Williams.
"For the younger sisters, we always look up to the older sisters because they're always ahead of us and they always win." - Serena Williams.
"Venus told me the other day that champions don't get nervous in tight situations. That really helped me a lot. I decided I shouldn't get nervous and just do the best I can." - Serena Williams.
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