Serena Williams was born on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan. As of now, she holds 23 Grand Slam singles titles, and 14 in doubles. Williams has the most Grand Slam titles of any active player. She is the youngest of five siblings and grew up in California. Williams learned to play tennis at four years old and was taught by her father. In 1995, Williams joined the ranks of professional tennis players, a year after her sister Venus Williams did. The sisters have teamed up to win 14 Grand Slam doubles titles. Serena won her first Grand Slam singles title in 1999 at the U.S. Open.
From 2002-2003, Williams won four Grand Slams--French Open, U.S. Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open--and defeated her sister in the finals of three out of the four. Her victories at these tournaments gave her a career Grand Slam. Towards the end of 2003, Williams injured her knee, but by 2007 Williams was back to full strength and won the Australian Open. Over the next ten years, Williams won many more Grand Slams. In 2017, she reached two milestones of a different sort: giving birth to her first daughter (Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.), and marrying her fiance (Alexis Kerry Ohanian, Sr.). Williams later revealed that she had been pregnant with her daughter when she won a Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, 2017.
In addition to her achievements playing tennis, Williams has also launched a Nike apparel line and her own clothing line (Aneres). She is involved with The Owl Foundation, and has donated many resources to nonprofits battling gun violence. She helped fund the Serena Williams Secondary School in Kenya, and is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Williams has received many awards for her talent including: the President’s Award, the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award (2003), and the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards “Best Female Athlete of the Year” (2003 and 2013).
Williams remains an incredibly talented tennis player and a role model for young girls who want to play sports despite being told that they aren’t good enough.
Bibliography
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Serena Williams.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Serena-Williams.
Yoon, Christina Jin. “Serena Williams (1981 - ).” BlackPast, BlackPast, 30 Mar. 2019, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/williams-serena-1981/.