Best Known As: Sports Figure

Gist:  Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on four separate occasions; as of July 27, 2009, she is ranked World No. 2. She is the reigning US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon singles champion and has won 22 Grand Slam titles: 11 in singles, nine in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. In addition, she has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She also has won more Grand Slams than any other active female player and has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history. In 2005, Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player in 40 years.

Williams breached the top ten on the WTA world rankings for the first time in 1999 when she won several tournaments, including her first Grand Slam victory at the US Open at the age of 17. Between 2002 and 2003, Williams won five of the six Grand Slam events she entered, becoming the fifth woman in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles simulataneously. She became the World No. 1 for the first time in July 2002.

Williams' domination of the sport came to an abrupt end in mid-2003 when she had surgery to repair a partial tear in a knee tendon. Upon her return to the sport in 2004, her results were noticeably less consistent than previously. In early 2005, she won her first Grand Slam title in 18 months at the Australian Open, but a string of injuries then limited her to competing in just 13 events in the two years that followed, winning none of them. Her standing in the world rankings suffered as a result, the nadir being World No. 140 in July 2006, leading to widespread speculation that she had passed her peak. Williams, however, eventually won another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2007, despite being ranked World No. 81 at the time. Williams returned to the top ten later that year and has since competed in every Grand Slam event. She became the World No. 1 for the first time in five years in September 2008.

Williams is the younger sister of fellow former World No. 1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams. The sisters have played each other in 21 professional matches dating back to 1998, with Serena winning 11 matches played between them as of July 2009. Their meeting in the final of the 2001 US Open was the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters in the open era. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six of those. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, the sisters met in all four Grand Slam finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals.

Life Facts:  She was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Williams is of African American heritage and is one of five sisters: Lyndrea, Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Isha, and Venus. Richard, who home-schooled his children, hoped that involvement in sports would give them an opportunity for a better life, and dreamed of making at least one of his daughters a tennis superstar. To this end, Williams was and remains coached by both her parents.

The Williams family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach when Serena was nine, Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Serena was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of white players talk about the Williams sisters in an derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Serena had a 46?3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under 10 players in Florida. In 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit would have been beneficial, Serena responded: "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just tried a different road, and it worked for us."

Williams was forced to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open due to injury, but won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, USA, defeating Martina Hingis in the semifinals and Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the first time, defeating the top three players in the world - Capriati, sister Venus and Hingis - en route.

Williams reached the final at a clay court event for the first time in May, at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, losing to Justine Henin. The following week, Williams won her first clay title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. This increased her ranking to a new high of World No. 3. Williams, as the third seed at the 2002 French Open, dropped just two sets en route to the final (including a victory over top seed and defending champion Capriati in the semifinals), where she defeated sister Venus 7?5, 6?3. This gave Serena the second Grand Slam title of her career and increased her ranking to World No. 2, behind only Venus.

At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams defeated Amelie Mauresmo 6?2, 6?1 in the semifinals to make the final for the first time. There, she again defeated defending champion Venus 7?6(4), 6?3 to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set for the first time. This victory earned Serena the World No. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and succeeding her as the second African-American woman to hold the top ranking on the WTA). The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam title for the pair in women's doubles.

Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to Chanda Rubin, her first loss after 21 consecutive wins. Despite that, she went into the US Open as a strong favorite for the title. She defeated Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals of the tournament to make the final for the third time. Playing Venus for the third consecutive Grand Slam final, Serena won once again, 6?4, 6?3, to win her second US Open title and fourth Grand Slam singles title.

Williams won back-to-back titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo and defeating Anastasia Myskina in the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-ending Home Depot Championships, but lost surprisingly to 19-year-old Kim Clijsters in straight sets, her first loss after 18 consecutive wins. Williams finished 2002 with a 56?5 record, eight singles titles, and the World No. 1 ranking, becoming the first African-American (male or female) to end a year ranked #1 in the world.

At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams was just three points away from losing to Emilie Loit in the first round, before eventually winning. Williams went on to make the semifinals for the first time, where she saved two match points in defeating Clijsters. She faced her sister Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won in three sets, to become the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. As the titles were not held within a single calendar year, they are not considered as a "Grand Slam". The Williams sisters won the doubles titles, their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together.

Williams captured titles at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, defeating Mauresmo in the final, and the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the second straight year, defeating Clijsters in the semifinals and Capriati in the final. Williams went on to make the final at the clay-court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, but lost there to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. At the French Open Williams lost to eventual champion Justine Henin in a controversial semifinal as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship and spectators applauded Williams' errors.

Williams rebounded from the loss at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin 6?3, 6?2 in the semifinals and Venus 4?6, 6?4, 6?2 in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall.

Williams didn not defend her US Open title due to injury and her sister Yetunde was brutally murdered September 14, 2003. She ended the year at world no. 3.

In 2008, People Magazine reported Williams was dating rapper Common, although she later stated that she was concentrating on her tennis. She resides at BallenIsles in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Career Facts:  Williams was forced to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open due to injury, but won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, USA, defeating Martina Hingis in the semifinals and Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the first time, defeating the top three players in the world - Capriati, sister Venus and Hingis - en route.

Williams reached the final at a clay court event for the first time in May, at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, losing to Justine Henin. The following week, Williams won her first clay title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. This increased her ranking to a new high of World No. 3. Williams, as the third seed at the 2002 French Open, dropped just two sets en route to the final (including a victory over top seed and defending champion Capriati in the semifinals), where she defeated sister Venus 7?5, 6?3. This gave Serena the second Grand Slam title of her career and increased her ranking to World No. 2, behind only Venus.

At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams defeated Amelie Mauresmo 6?2, 6?1 in the semifinals to make the final for the first time. There, she again defeated defending champion Venus 7?6(4), 6?3 to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set for the first time. This victory earned Serena the World No. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and succeeding her as the second African-American woman to hold the top ranking on the WTA). The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam title for the pair in women's doubles.

Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to Chanda Rubin, her first loss after 21 consecutive wins. Despite that, she went into the US Open as a strong favorite for the title. She defeated Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals of the tournament to make the final for the third time. Playing Venus for the third consecutive Grand Slam final, Serena won once again, 6?4, 6?3, to win her second US Open title and fourth Grand Slam singles title.

Williams won back-to-back titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo and defeating Anastasia Myskina in the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-ending Home Depot Championships, but lost surprisingly to 19-year-old Kim Clijsters in straight sets, her first loss after 18 consecutive wins. Williams finished 2002 with a 56?5 record, eight singles titles, and the World No. 1 ranking, becoming the first African-American (male or female) to end a year ranked #1 in the world.

At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams was just three points away from losing to Emilie Loit in the first round, before eventually winning. Williams went on to make the semifinals for the first time, where she saved two match points in defeating Clijsters. She faced her sister Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won in three sets, to become the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. As the titles were not held within a single calendar year, they are not considered as a "Grand Slam". The Williams sisters won the doubles titles, their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together.

Williams captured titles at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, defeating Mauresmo in the final, and the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the second straight year, defeating Clijsters in the semifinals and Capriati in the final. Williams went on to make the final at the clay-court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, but lost there to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. At the French Open Williams lost to eventual champion Justine Henin in a controversial semifinal as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship and spectators applauded Williams' errors.

Williams rebounded from the loss at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin 6?3, 6?2 in the semifinals and Venus 4?6, 6?4, 6?2 in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall.

Williams didn not defend her US Open title due to injury and her sister Yetunde was brutally murdered September 14, 2003. She ended the year at world no. 3.

Serena has played her sister Venus many times in Grand Slam singles tournaments and a few times in other tournaments. Serena has a one match lead in the head-to-head series, 11-10. They are the only women during the open era to have played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals.

Williams has appeared on television and also provided voice work on animated shows: in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons Serena joined the animation along with sister Venus, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. She has also provided guest voice work in a 2005 episode of Playhouse Disney's animated kids show Higglytown Heroes and a 2007 episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, 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 during episodes of 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 and Kanye West.

;1998

* WTA Newcomer of the Year

* Tennis Magazine/Rolex Rookie of the Year

;1999

* WTA Most Improved Player of the Year

* Tennis Magazine Player of the Year

;2000

* WTA Doubles Team of the Year Award (with Venus Williams)

;2002

* WTA Player of the Year

* ITF Women's Singles World Champion

* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year

;2003

* 34th NAACP Image Awards President's Award

* ESPY Award Best Female Athlete

* ESPY Award Best Female Tennis Player

* Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year

* Avon Foundation Celebrity Role Model Award

* BET's Best Female Athlete of the Year

;2004

* WTA Comeback Player of the Year

* Family Circle/Prudential Financial Player Who Makes a Difference Award

* ESPY Award Best Female Tennis Player

* BET's Best Female Athlete of the Year

;2005

* BET's Best Female Athlete of the Year

;2007

* Laureus World Comeback of the Year

* Harris Poll Most Favorite Female Sports Star

;2008

* WTA Player of the Year

;2009

* BET's Best Female Athlete of the Year

* Harris Poll Most Favorite Female Sports Star

* ESPY Award Best Female Tennis Player