American tennis player

Serena Jameka Williams ( bear September 26, 1981 ) [ 1 ] is an american professional tennis actor. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all prison term behind Margaret Court ( 24 ). The Women ‘s Tennis Association ( WTA ) ranked her singles earth No. 1 on eight offprint occasions between 2002 and 2017. On her sixth juncture, she held the ranking for 186 straight weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf. In sum, she has been WTA No. 1 for 319 weeks, which ranks third base since WTA Rankings began behind Graf and Martina Navratilova. She is the lone American actor, male or female, to win more than 20 majors. Williams is widely regarded to be one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. [ a ] She holds the most major titles in singles, doubles, and interracial doubles combined among active players, with 39 : 23 in singles, 14 in women ‘s doubles, and two in interracial doubles. She is joint-third on the all-time tilt and second in the Open Era for total major titles accumulated. She is the most late woman to have held all four major singles titles simultaneously ( 2002–03 and 2014–15 ) and the third player to achieve this twice, after Rod Laver and Graf. She is besides the most late female player to have won the Surface Slam ( major titles on hard, cadaver and grass in the lapp calendar class ), doing sol in 2015. She is besides, together with her older sister Venus, the most late player to have held all four Grand Slam women ‘s doubles titles simultaneously ( 2009–10 ).

Williams has won a record 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hard court. Williams holds the open earned run average record for most women ‘s singles titles at the australian Open ( 7 ) and shares the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open with Chris Evert ( 6 ). She besides holds the records for the most women ‘s singles matches won at majors with 365 matches and most singles majors won since turning 30 years old ( 10 ). She is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won three of the four Grand Slams at least 6 times. Williams is besides a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships in the singles class. [ 19 ] Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, all with her baby Venus, and the couple are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. [ 20 ] As a team, she and Venus have the third most women ‘s doubles Grand Slam titles, behind the 18 titles of Natasha Zvereva ( 14 with Gigi Fernández ) and the commemorate 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. She and Venus are the only tennis players in history with four Olympic gold medals, ampere well as the merely ones to win Olympic amber in the same event on three occasions. She and Venus are the only Open Era female tennis players to win Olympic Gold in both the singles and doubles categories. [ 21 ] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Williams became entirely the third base player to win Olympic aureate 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. Williams is the alone player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a fresh era of power and athleticism on the women ‘s professional tennis enlistment. [ 24 ] [ 25 ] [ 26 ] [ 27 ] Earning about $ 29 million in loot money and endorsements, Williams was the world ‘s highest-paid female athlete in 2016. [ 28 ] She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the alone woman on Forbes ‘ list of the 100 highest-paid athletes with $ 27 million in respect money and endorsements. She has won the ‘Laureus Sportswoman of the Year ‘ award four times ( 2003, 2010, 2016, 2018 ), and in December 2015, she was named Sportsperson of the class by Sports Illustrated magazine. [ 29 ] In 2021, she was ranked 28th on Forbes ‘ World ‘s Highest-Paid Athletes number. In terms of career trophy money, she stands as the highest-earning female athlete of all time. [ 30 ]

early life

Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan 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. [ 1 ] She besides has at least seven agnate half-siblings. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] When the children were young, the class moved to Compton, California, where Williams started playing tennis at the historic period of four. [ 33 ] Her church father family schooled Serena and her sister, Venus. [ 36 ] While he and subsequently her beget have been the official coaches, early mentors who helped her learn the game included Richard Williams, a Compton man who shared her father ‘s diagnose and would go on to found The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis/Tutorial Academy. [ 37 ]
williams sisters at a Pam Shriver event in Baltimore, 1993 When Williams was nine, she and her family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach, Florida, [ 33 ] so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci ; Macci began to provide extra coaching. Macci did not constantly agree with Williams ‘s don, but respected that “ he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls ”. [ 38 ] Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10 since he wanted them to go lento and to focus on school exercise. Experiences of racism besides drove this experience, as Richard Williams had heard ashen parents spill the beans about the Williams sisters in a derogative manner during tournaments. [ 39 ] At that time, Williams had a 46–3 criminal record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked phone number one among under-10 players in Florida. [ 40 ] In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci ‘s academy and, from then on, took over all coaching at their family. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior racing circuit would have been beneficial, Williams responded : “ Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us. ” [ 40 ]

Professional career

1995–1998 : professional debut

Williams ‘s parents wanted their daughter to wait until she was 16 to participate in professional tournaments. [ 41 ] In 1995 good after turning 14, Williams planned to make her master debut as a wild-card introduction in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California, but was denied by the WTA due to age-eligibility restrictions of the administration. [ 42 ] She subsequently filed an antimonopoly lawsuit against the women ‘s tour, but withdrew it at the behest of her parents. [ 42 ] Her first professional consequence was in October 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, [ 41 ] [ 43 ] where she used a wild-card entrance to circumvent age-eligibility rules. [ 41 ] She lost in the beginning rung of qualifying to then 18-year-old American Annie Miller, winning just two games. Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. [ citation needed ] The follow class, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments, [ citation needed ] before winning her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. [ 45 ] Ranked No. 304, she upset No. 7 Mary Pierce, and No. 4 Monica Seles, [ 46 ] [ 47 ] recording her first career wins over top 10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top-10 opponents in one tournament. [ 1 ] She ultimately lost in the semifinals to No. 5 Lindsay Davenport. [ 48 ] She finished 1997 ranked No. 99. [ 49 ] Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. [ 50 ] As a qualifier ranked No. 96, [ 51 ] she defeated No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, [ 51 ] before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. [ 52 ] Williams made her debut in the main puff of a Grand Slam tournament at the australian Open, [ 53 ] where she defeated sixth-seeded Irina Spîrlea in the first base round, [ 54 ] before losing to her baby, Venus, in the second beat in the first professional match for the sisters. [ 54 ] [ 50 ] Williams reached six early quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them, [ 55 ] including her first match against No. 1-ranked Martina Hingis at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, [ 56 ] and her moment catch against Venus at the italian Open in Rome. [ 55 ] She failed to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament the remainder of the year, [ citation needed ] lose in the one-fourth beat of the french Open to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, [ 57 ] and the third base orotund of the US Open to Spîrlea. [ 58 ] She withdrew from Wimbledon two games into a match with Virginia Ruano Pascual, after straining her calf muscle during the beginning adjust. [ 59 ] She did win the assorted doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, completing the Williams family ‘s swing of the 1998 interracial doubles Grand Slam tournaments. Williams won her first professional title in doubles in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA deed. [ 1 ] Serena and her sister won two more doubles titles in concert during the year. Williams finished the class ranked No. 20 in singles. [ citation needed ]

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

A 16-year-old Serena competed in a tennis “ Battle of the Sexes ”, along with her sister Venus Williams, against Karsten Braasch at the 1998 australian Open. [ 60 ] At the time Braasch was 203rd in the ATP rankings. The Williams sisters had claimed they could beat any man outside the circus tent 200, and accepted his challenge. Braasch beat both Williams sisters, playing a one put against each. The score vanadium Serena was 6–1 and five Venus 6–2. [ 61 ] Braasch said subsequently, “ 500 and above, no find. ” The sisters belated tweaked the number to beating men outside the top 350. [ 62 ]

1999–2001 : Becoming a top-10 player

Williams lost in the third round off of the 1999 australian Open to Sandrine Testud. A calendar month late, Williams won her first professional singles title when she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final examination of the Open Gaz de France in Paris. With Venus besides winning the IGA Superthrift Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, that day, the pair became the first base sisters to win professional tournaments in the lapp workweek. [ 63 ] 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 subsequently at the Miami Masters, Williams had her 16-match victorious streak ended by her baby in the beginning all-sister singles final examination in WTA history, [ 50 ] and she then made her top-10 debut, at No. 9. She then lost in the quarterfinals of the italian Open [ 64 ] and the german Open, [ 65 ] and the one-third round of golf of the french Open, [ 66 ] where she and Venus won the women ‘s doubles entitle. [ 50 ] Williams then missed Wimbledon because of injury. When she returned to the tour, Williams won a Fed Cup singles meet and then won the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, beating Julie Halard-Decugis in the concluding. She then defeated in succession Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles, and defending ace Lindsay Davenport to reach the US Open final, where she defeated No. 1, Hingis, to become the second african-american woman, after Althea Gibson in 1958, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. [ 1 ] The Williams sisters besides won the doubles entitle at this tournament. To complete her 1999 season, Williams won a doubles meet in the Fed Cup final against Russia. Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in barely her moment wax class on the independent enlistment. [ 67 ] Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the australian Open to Elena Likhovtseva. 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, 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 examination. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open where an wound forced her to retire from her meet with Hingis. Her defense of the US Open deed ended when she lost in the quarterfinals to Davenport. Williams teamed with Venus to win the gold decoration 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. [ citation needed ] 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 adjacent event was the Pacific Life Open in California, where she defeated Kim Clijsters in the final examination. The concluding was marred by the behavior of the crowd toward Williams and her family. push members were incensed at the perceive match-fixing of games involving the family after Venus withdrew before their semifinal. Neither Williams nor her baby entered the tournament for fourteen years until Williams entered in 2015 as a wildcard ( and the top sow ). [ 68 ] The postdate workweek at the Ericsson Open in Miami, Williams lost to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati at both the french Open and Wimbledon Championships. That was the fourthly 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 against Monica Seles, then captured her second title of the year at the Rogers Cup, defeating Capriati in the final. Williams reached the concluding 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 backing by walkover when Davenport withdrew before the starting signal of the concluding due to a knee wound. Williams finished 2001 at No. 6 for the second straight class. [ citation needed ]

2002–2003 : “ Serena Slam ”

early 2002, injury saw Williams go to bed from the semifinal at the Medibank International Sydney and later withdraw from the australian Open. [ 69 ] Playing Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Sydney in 2002 Returning from injury, Williams won her first title of the year in Scottsdale, Arizona, defeating No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, in the concluding. She then won the Miami Masters for the foremost time, becoming one of three players in the Open Era to defeat the populace ‘s top 3 ranked players at one tournament, [ 1 ] after beating No. 3, Martina Hingis, in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Venus in the semifinals, and the top-ranked actor, Capriati, in the final examination. Serena ‘s straight put win over Venus was her second career win over her sister. [ citation needed ] Williams played three clay-court tournaments before the 2002 French Open. Her beginning tournament was at Charleston, where she was the third base seed. Williams reached the quarterfinals before losing to Patty Schnyder. She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the Eurocard German Open losing to Justine Henin in a third gear determine tiebreak. Williams went on to win her beginning clay court title at the italian Open, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. [ 70 ] This raised her ranking to a new high of No. 3. Williams was the third base 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 concluding 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, Williams rose to a career-high of No. 2, second only to Venus. [ citation needed ] At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams won tennis ‘s oldest championship for the first fourth dimension in her life, defeating Venus to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first gear time in her career. This victory earned Williams the populace No. 1 ranking for the beginning time, dethroning her baby and becoming only the third african American woman to hold that ranking. [ 1 ] The Williams sisters besides won the doubles claim at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam doubles title for the match. 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 and ending a 21-match fetching streak. The top-seeded musician at the US Open, Williams reached the concluding where, for the third gear Grand Slam in a rowing, she defeated her sister to win the claim, the second gear US Open crown of her career. Williams won two back-to-back singles titles in the capitulation, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, and Anastasia Myskina 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 neat sets, ending an 18-match win streak. [ citation needed ] 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 in 1958 [ citation needed ] and was the first base woman to win three Grand Slam tournament titles in one year since Hingis in 1997. [ 1 ] Her three straight Grand Slam titles to close 2002 besides made Williams only the third base player in tennis history to win the “ Surface Slam ”, [ 71 ] three Slam titles on three surfaces in the same calendar year, after Navratilova ( 1984 ) and Graf ( 1993, 1995, 1996 ). [ citation needed ] At the 2003 australian Open, Williams reached the tournament ‘s semifinals for the foremost time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the one-third determined and saved two match points before defeating Clijsters. In the final examination, Serena faced Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final, defeating her older sister to become the sixth womanhood in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, aboard Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. She besides became the fifth womanhood 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. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event. [ 74 ] During the bounce of 2003, Williams captured the singles titles at the Open Gaz de France and the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams ‘s victorious streak came to an goal when she lost the final of the Family Circle Cup to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She besides lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the lead seeded player 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 pit was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin ‘s sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams ‘s errors. [ 75 ] 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 examination. This was Williams ‘s moment consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles style overall. Wimbledon was Williams ‘s death tournament of 2003 ; she pulled come out of the closet of three events in the US and then undergo surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee in early August. Williams was initially expected to be out for six to eight weeks. [ 76 ]

2004–2007 : Injuries and the rejoinder

After eight months aside from the go, during which time her desire was questioned, [ 77 ] Williams began her comeback at the 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami in March, where she made a exultant return as she won the style for the third gear consecutive year . Delivering a serve at an exhibition in November 2004 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 clock that Williams had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. A few weeks by and by, even though her rank had dropped to No. 10, Williams was seeded first base at Wimbledon. She won six matches en route to the final, where 13th-seeded Maria Sharapova defeated her in heterosexual sets. This passing caused her rank to drop out of the peak 10 for the first clock since 1999. Later that summer, Williams reached her third final of the class at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles where she lost to Lindsay Davenport which was her inaugural 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 one-third despite her No. 11 rank. She lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Capriati in three sets in controversial fashion. [ 78 ] That fall, Williams won her second deed of the class, at the China Open, defeating US Open supporter 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 and lost to Davenport, but placid advanced to the elimination stage. After winning her semifinal, she lost to Sharapova in the final, where she suffered an abdominal injury. [ 79 ] Williams finished 2004 ranked No. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first season since 2001. [ citation needed ] At the 2005 australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis, following Venus ‘s early exit. [ 80 ] Williams saved three catch points to defeat Sharapova 8–6 in the third of their semifinal. In the final, Williams defeated crown seed Davenport to win her moment australian Open and seventh Grand Slam singles title, winning 12 of the last 15 games. [ 81 ] The win moved Williams back to No. 2 but stated she was targeting the top spot. [ 82 ] 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 as Williams suffered a series of retirements and withdraws. [ 83 ] [ 84 ] A reoccurring ankle injury causing her to miss the french Open. [ 85 ] She returned for Wimbledon as the 4th-seeded actor, but was defeated in the third base round by No. 85, Jill Craybas. At the US Open, Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth orotund. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first confluence, at the 1998 australian Open. Williams played just one more match that drop, a loss to No. 127 Sun Tiantian at the tournament in Beijing. She failed to qualify for the year-end backing for the inaugural time since 1998 and she finished the year 2005 ranked No. 11, her first gear time finishing the season outside the top 10 since 1998. [ citation needed ] Williams made her 2006 debut at the australian Open. Defending the entitle, Williams lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the third round. [ 86 ] 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. [ 87 ] 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 earth for a period, Williams saw a therapist daily. After a probability meet with a new 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, [ 90 ] [ 91 ] before losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva. [ 92 ] She besides 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 pistol 102. Her rate had improved to 79th by the time the tournament came around. [ 93 ] She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the one-fourth round. [ 94 ] Following the US Open, she did not play again in 2006, ending the class ranked No. 95, her lowest year-end rank since 1997. [ citation needed ] Williams began 2007 with renewed assurance, stating her intention to return to the clear of the rankings, [ 95 ] a comment 1987 Wimbledon men ‘s singles champion and commentator Pat Cash branded “ deluded ”. [ 96 ] 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 ”. [ 97 ] She experienced a huge amount of press on herself before the tournament, coming from her fans and the wardrobe arsenic well as Williams herself about her weight, focus and needing a good show. [ citation needed ] curtly before her first match, a example 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 think of 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 and defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets. By this indicate, a blister had developed on Williams ‘s infantry and she had contracted a cold. In the third base round, Williams found herself two points aside from going home against Nadia Petrova, but fought back to win in three sets, which was her first base win over a top-10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 australian Open final examination. Williams then made it to the concluding, defeating Janković, Pe’er and Vaidišová. Williams described them as “ good players. strong players. Players who surely did n’t expect an corpulence, out-of-shape, has been champion like me to give them a game. ” Williams besides found herself two points from going out against Peer before turning it round. [ 101 ] By the time Williams had reached the final, the cold and blister had both left. Previewing the finals, Tracy Austin stated that, although Williams had a great tournament, she believed that the ride was over and that Sharapova would have no trouble oneself with Williams. Williams thought it was mean and unnecessary and used it as motivation along with other criticism. In the final examination, Williams lost just three games against Maria Sharapova, winning her first entitle at any tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open 24 months anterior. [ 101 ] Williams became the foremost 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 acquire elevated Williams to 14th in the rankings. Williams dedicated the title to her asleep half sister Yetunde. [ 103 ] Her performance in the final was described in the wardrobe as “ one of the best performances of her career ” and “ arguably the most knock-down display always seen in women ‘s tennis ”. [ 97 ] [ 104 ] In her post-match interview, Williams took a swipe at her critics, stating that she had proved them wrong. [ 105 ] Williams won the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the fourth time by defeating Justine Henin. Williams had to record a come-from-behind succeed after being whitewashed in the first stage set and saving two match points in the second. [ 106 ] She played for her state in the Fed Cup for the inaugural time since 2003 in a draw against Belgium, and won her open equal [ 107 ] but retire from her moment, because of a stifle injury. [ 108 ] At the french Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Henin. [ 109 ] During her fourth attack match against Hantuchová at Wimbledon, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the moment set. After a aesculapian timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, rain forced bring to be suspended for about two hours. When the players returned, Williams won the match in three sets. [ 110 ] Williams then lost her quarterfinal meet with Henin, whilst suffering from the injuries sustained in the previous round. [ 111 ] At the US Open, Williams lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin. [ 112 ] Williams reached the final of Kremlin Cup, losing to Elena Dementieva. Williams qualified for the WTA Championships, but retired from her first couple with Anna Chakvetadze with a knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the event. [ 113 ] [ 114 ] Williams finished 2007 as No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first base meter since 2003. [ 109 ]

2008–2010 : back to No. 1 and injuries

Williams started 2008 by participating on the U.S. team that won the Hopman Cup with Mardy Fish. [ 115 ] At the australian Open she lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Janković, [ 109 ] her fourthly straightaway 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 pressing indigence for dental operating room. [ 116 ] Williams then won three consecutive singles titles at Bangalore and her one-fifth Miami style, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament . At the 2009 australian Open Williams won at the Family Circle Cup, her inaugural clay-court championship since the 2002 French Open. Her 17-match acquire mottle was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of Berlin. [ 109 ] Williams withdrew in Rome in the quarterfinals against Alizé Cornet ascribable to a back injury. Williams was the only early achiever of the french Open in the draw, but lost in the third round to Katarina Srebotnik. [ citation needed ] At Wimbledon, Williams reached the finals for the first clock in four years but lost to her older baby Venus in straight sets, in their inaugural Slam concluding since 2003. Serena and Venus teamed to win the women ‘s doubles title in their first Grand Slam women ‘s doubles championship since 2003. Williams played at Stanford, but retired 6–2, 3–1 down with a leave knee injury from her semifinal match against qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak. The injury forced her to withdraw from Los Angeles. At the Olympics in Beijing, Williams lost to Dementieva in the quarterfinals. Serena and Venus won the gold decoration in doubles, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final. At the US Open, Williams defeated sister Venus, Safina and Jelena Janković in the final examination. That was her third US Open and one-ninth Grand Slam singles entitle. The victory returned her to the No. 1 ranking for the beginning time since 2003. [ 117 ] 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 graded No. 2 and with four singles titles, her strongest performance in both respects since 2003. [ citation needed ] Williams began 2009 at the Medibank International lose in the semifinals to Elena Dementieva. At the australian Open, she claimed her one-tenth Grand Slam singles claim by defeating Dinara Safina in the concluding in 59 minutes. This acquire returned her to the No. 1 rank and resulted in her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women ‘s sports, overtaking golfer Annika Sörenstam. In women ‘s doubles, with Venus, they captured the title for the third time. [ citation needed ] At the Open GdF Suez, Williams withdrew before her semifinal with Dementieva because of a knee injury. [ citation needed ] Serena then played at Dubai, losing to Venus in the last 4. [ citation needed ] At the Sony Ericsson Open Williams, hampered with ankle and quad injuries, was upset in the final by Victoria Azarenka. This was the first gear of four consecutive losses for her, the longest lose stripe of her career. [ 118 ] She was defeated in her opening matches at Barcelona, Rome, and Madrid. Despite not having won a match on clay in 2009 before the french Open, she lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual supporter Svetlana Kuznetsova. This ended her 18-match Grand Slam tournament winning streak. She rebounded at Wimbledon, saving a equal point in defeating fourth seeded Dementieva in the semifinals. In the final, Serena defeated her sister Venus to win her third base Wimbledon entitle and her 11th Grand Slam singles title. [ 119 ] Serena and Venus teamed to win the women ‘s doubles title at Wimbledon for the second consecutive class, their ninth Grand Slam claim in women ‘s doubles. [ citation needed ] As a US Open planning, Williams played at Cincinnati losing in the third cycle, followed by a semifinal kill 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 pronounce when defending match point, an umbrage which monetary value Williams the point and consequently the match. She continued in the doubles competition, teaming up with Venus to win their third Grand Slam doubles style of the year and tenth of their career. [ 120 ] Williams won all three of her round-robin matches at the year-end WTA Tour Championships, 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 examination, Williams defeated Venus for her second singles title at this event. [ 121 ] Williams on her manner to the singles and doubles claim at the 2010 australian Open Williams finished the year ranked No. 1 for the moment prison term in her career, having played in 16 tournaments, more than any other class. She besides broke the criminal record previously set by Justine Henin for the most trophy money earned by a female tennis musician 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 entire of Grand Slam titles won frankincense far at 23, and she was consequently named Female Athlete of the year by the Associated Press for 2009. [ 122 ] Williams was besides the ITF World Champion in both the singles and doubles events. [ 123 ] In 2010, Williams ‘s first scheduled tournament was in Sydney, losing in the concluding to Elena Dementieva. At the australian Open, Williams was the defending ace in both singles and doubles. She reached the final and defeated Justine Henin, who had just recently come out of retirement, for her one-twelfth Grand Slam singles title. In doubles, Williams and her sister, Venus, successfully defended their title by defeating Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final examination. [ citation needed ] Williams withdrew with a leg injury from her following few events, [ citation needed ] and returned at the Rome Masters, losing to Jelena Janković in the semifinals. At Madrid, she fell to Nadia Petrova in the third round but partnered Venus to win the doubles title. [ citation needed ] At the french Open, Williams was defeated by Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. She and Venus were the top seeds in the doubles event and won the title, defeating Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final examination to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title and improving their doubles ranking to No. 1. [ citation needed ] Williams ‘s adjacent tournament was Wimbledon, where she defeated russian Vera Zvonareva in the concluding without facing a break detail and breaking the serve of Zvonareva three times. [ 124 ] [ 125 ] She did not lose a stage set in the tournament. [ 126 ] After the equal, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the lead 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 merely your game overall. And she ‘s got all the goods. ” [ 125 ] Serena was the defending ace 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 break glaze while in a restaurant, and the injury caused her to miss the rest of the year. [ citation needed ] Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in singles after six tournaments, [ citation needed ] and No. 11 in doubles after four tournaments. [ citation needed ] On March 2, 2011, she confirmed that she had suffered a hematoma and a pneumonic embolism. [ 127 ] [ 128 ] [ 129 ]

2011–2013 : return to dominance, career golden slam

Williams finally made a return to the rehearse court in March 2011. [ 130 ] She made her beginning appearance on the WTA go in about a year in Eastbourne. [ 131 ] Williams lost in round two to Vera Zvonareva, in a couple that lasted over three hours. [ 132 ] Her future tournament was Wimbledon, where she was the maintain champion. She reached the round of 16, where she lost to Marion Bartoli. After the loss, her ranking dropped to 169. Williams won her first titles since her return to tennis triumphing in Stanford and Toronto. At the Western & Southern Open, Williams defeated Lucie Hradecká, only to withdraw the next day, citing a correctly toe injury. She then played at the US Open going all the way to the final lose to Samantha Stosur, during a equal which featured her verbally abusing the chair umpire. The US Open final turned out to be Williams ‘s last meet in 2011, and she ended the year ranked No. 12 with two titles and with a 22–3 record for the season. She entirely participated in six tournaments throughout the temper .
Williams won the singles gold decoration at the 2012 Olympic Games. Williams started the 2012 season at the Brisbane International, however, during her match against Bojana Jovanovski, she injured her left ankle when serving for the meet. As a resultant role, Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament. [ 133 ] Next she participated at the australian Open where she was upset by Ekaterina Makarova in the fourthly round. After a calendar month layoff, Williams returned to contest in Miami miss in the quarterfinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Williams then won straight titles at Charleston and Madrid beating Lucie Šafářová and Victoria Azarenka, but withdrew from her semifinal match against Li Na in Rome citing a lower binding injury. Williams suffered her first ever loss in the orifice round of a Grand Slam tournament at the french Open against Virginie Razzano. Williams notched up a 33–1 read for the second base half of the season winning five titles in the process. [ 134 ] Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles claim, her fourteenth Grand Slam deed ; [ 135 ] [ 136 ] setting a serve record of 24 aces by a female in a peer adenine well as having the most aces, male or female, during the tournament ( 102 ). [ 137 ] Williams returned to America to successfully defend her title in Stanford beating CoCo Vandeweghe in the final. [ 138 ] [ 139 ] Williams then returned to Wimbledon to represent her nation at the Olympic Games where she won gold, defeating Maria Sharapova in a autocratic performance. Williams failed to drop more than three games per stage set en route to winning the decoration. [ 139 ] Williams undefeated streak ended with a loss in Cincinnati to Angelique Kerber. In New York City, Williams went on to win her fourthly US Open singles title and her 15th career Grand Slam title overall beat Azarenka in the final examination. [ 134 ] [ 140 ] Williams ended the season by competing at the WTA Championships and went undefeated throughout the tournament to win the consequence for her third championship. [ 134 ] Williams was voted WTA Player of the year for the one-fourth time. [ 141 ] Based on her brilliant show in 2012, Williams was besides named International Tennis Federation World Champion. [ 142 ] Williams besides returned to doubles competitions with Venus ; in the match ‘s first tournament since 2010 Wimbledon, they claimed their one-fifth Wimbledon doubles title and the 13th distinguished slam doubles style. [ 143 ] The copulate successfully defended their Olympic doubles title which meant that they became the only tennis players to win four gold medals. [ 21 ] Williams ‘s first tournament of the 2013 season was in Brisbane, where she won the championship without dropping a set. Williams was upset in the quarterfinals of the australian Open by companion American player Sloane Stephens. By virtue of defeating Petra Kvitová 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. [ 144 ] Williams went on to lose to Victoria Azarenka in the final. In the Miami final, Williams lost a bent to Maria Sharapova for the foremost clock since 2008. This reverse did not stop Williams who recorded her 70th come-from-behind winnings. The win made Williams a six-time ace in Miami breaking the record she held with Steffi Graf and became only the fourth charwoman in the Open earned run average to have won a tournament at least six times. [ 145 ] Williams successfully defended her Charleston title, winning it for the third time overall. [ 146 ] Williams won her fiftieth career singles title in Madrid, defeating Sharapova in the final. Williams then played Rome, where she won the claim without dropping a set, defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final examination to take her second title. Williams merely 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 female operation on clay she had ever seen. [ 147 ] Williams defeated Sharapova to claim her second Roland Garros claim, her sixteenth thousand slam tournament title overall. She became the fourth woman in the Open Era after Navratilova, Evert and Graf to win each Grand Slam tournament style on at least two occasions. At Wimbledon, she advanced easily to the fourth round off before being upset by eventual finalist Sabine Lisicki in three sets. After Wimbledon, Williams won the swedish Open by defeating Johanna Larsson in the final, the tournament win marked the first juncture that she had won an International level style. By winning the tournament this mean that Williams had managed to be undefeated on clay during the season. [ 148 ]
Williams winning her one-fifth US Open title Williams won her 3rd Rogers Cup title in Toronto beat Sorana Cîrstea in the concluding. [ 149 ] Williams reached the concluding of the Western & Southern Open for the first time but lost to Azarenka. [ 150 ] At the US Open, Williams began as lead seed and defending champion. She reached the final—rematch of the 2012 concluding against Azarenka—and won in three sets, capturing her 17th Grand Slam singles deed. [ 151 ] Williams became the oldest uranium overt champion in the Open Era and pushed her career prize money past $ 50 million. [ 151 ] After the US Open, Williams beat Jelena Janković to win the China Open in Beijing for her 10th claim of 2013. [ 152 ] [ 153 ] Williams went through the WTA Championships undefeated winning the final examination against Li Na, to become the inaugural person to defend the entitle since Justine Henin in 2007. Williams won her 11th deed of 2013 becoming the 8th player to win 11 titles or more in a year and the beginning since Martina Hingis in 1997. [ 154 ] besides, she became the oldest person to win the WTA Championships and 4th musician to win it 4 times or more. By winning the championship, Williams became the first woman to win more than $ 10 million in a season and with her total of $ 12,385,572, entirely Rafael Nadal, in 2013, and Novak Djokovic, in 2011, 2012 and 2013, have earned more money in one season. [ 155 ] Williams finished as the year end No. 1 for the third time, becoming the oldest no. 1 player in WTA history. [ 156 ] She was besides named the 2013 ITF World Champion, the fourth time that she has been given the World Champion ‘s pennant. [ 157 ] 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. [ 158 ] In late December 2013, Williams capped off her class by receiving the Associated Press 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award, her third gear AP award after 2002 and 2009. only two women, Chris Evert and Babe Didrikson, have been chosen more much as AP Athlete of the year since the annual awards were first gear handed out in 1931. [ 159 ]

2014–2015 : second ‘Serena Slam ‘

Williams defended her entitle at the Brisbane International by defeating No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final examination. [ 160 ] At the australian Open she ended up losing to erstwhile No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the one-fourth round off. At Dubai, Williams lost her semifinal match to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. Williams adjacent headed to the Miami Open where she won her record seventh title with a straight-sets victory over No. 2 Li Na. [ 161 ] Williams lost to Jana Čepelová 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 style of the season at the Rome. She was then handed the worst loss of her Grand Slam tournament career by Garbiñe Muguruza at the second polish of the french Open, who defeated Serena losing barely four games in two sets. [ 162 ] Alizé Cornet defeated Williams for the moment time in the year in the one-third round of Wimbledon, therefore handing Williams her earliest Wimbledon passing since 2005. Serena was then forced to withdraw from the doubles consequence aboard sister Venus while trailing 0–3 in the second round. A alienated Serena hit 4 straight doubles faults and was having disturb with both her ball discard and campaign before being removed from what has been described as one of the most unusual scenes always seen in tennis. [ 163 ] [ 164 ] Williams rebounded by winning 19 out of her next 20 matches ( losing merely to sister Venus in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup ). This stripe include titles at the Bank of the West Classic a well as her first western & Southern Open title and her third gear back-to-back and sixth overall US Open singles title which she won without having dropped a plant. [ 165 ] [ 166 ] With this victory Williams tied Chris Evert for most singles titles won by a womanhood at the US Open in the Open Era. Williams besides 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, Williams collected $ 4,000,000 – the biggest payday in tennis history. At the Wuhan Open 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 anterior to her quarterfinal match versus Samantha Stosur. At the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore Williams advanced to the final for the one-third consecutive class despite having equaled her career-worst personnel casualty in her second round robin match versus Simona Halep. [ 167 ] Williams won her fifth WTA Finals championship by avenging her loss to Halep in the championship catch for her seventh style of the class. [ 168 ] Williams finished the year ranked No. 1 for the fourth fourth dimension 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 besides vote WTA Player of the year and ITF World Champion for a third consecutive year ( sixth overall ). [ citation needed ] Williams began the 2015 season by representing the United States aboard John Isner at the Hopman Cup. The american pair lost the concluding to the Poland. [ 169 ] At the australian Open Williams defeated Maria Sharapova for the 16th straight clock to claim her 6th australian Open singles title and 19th career Grand Slam singles claim, winning the deed on her third peer point in the second stage set. [ 170 ] [ 171 ] [ 172 ] [ 173 ] [ 174 ] With this victory Williams surpassed both, Evert and Navratilova, for second most Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. The title was besides her sixth Grand Slam singles title since turning 30 years of age, three more than the adjacent airless to do then ( Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova with three each ). She is the only actor in history to win all four Grand Slams at least once after having turned 30. The postdate weekend, Serena and baby Venus traveled to Buenos Aires to face Argentina in a World Group II marry for Fed Cup. She played and won her lone pit against María Irigoyen to help Team USA to a 4–1 win over Argentina. [ 175 ] Williams announced that she would be competing at the indian Wells Masters ending her 14-year boycott of the event. [ 176 ] [ 177 ] Upon her return Williams received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her beginning equal in straight sets. [ 178 ] She reached the semifinals, where she was due to face No. 3, Simona Halep, for a position in the final examination, 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 entirely the one-eighth charwoman in the Open Era to record 700 equal wins in her career. [ 179 ] This besides made her one of only three active voice players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, others being Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. [ 180 ] In the semifinals she won against Halep to advance to her tenth final at the consequence [ 181 ] where she won a record eighth title and extended her winning stripe to 21 by beating Carla Suárez Navarro. [ 182 ] [ 183 ] [ 184 ]
Williams celebrating her third french Open championship As preparation for the clay woo season ( and to ensure her eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics ), Williams travelled to Brindisi, Italy, to face Italy ‘s team for a place in the Fed Cup ‘s World Group. Williams lost the critical doubles match alongside Alison Riske 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. [ 185 ] 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 rivulet in WTA history, behind Steffi Graf ‘s 186 weeks and Navratilova ‘s 156. [ citation needed ] Williams suffered her foremost get the better of of the season in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open to No. 4, Petra Kvitová. [ 186 ] [ 187 ] This loss ended a 27-match acquire mottle for Williams american samoa good as a 50-match acquire streak at Premier-Mandatory events, and besides a 19-match win streak at the particular consequence. [ 188 ] Williams played one match at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia before withdrawing from the tournament with an elbow injury. [ 189 ] By merit of having defeated Victoria Azarenka in the one-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. [ 190 ] Williams then defeated Sloane Stephens to reach her fortieth Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. [ 191 ] Williams won her adjacent match well, but had to come bet on from a set down in the semifinals versus Timea Bacsinszky for the fourth time in five matches to reach the concluding. [ 192 ] [ 193 ] She would go on to defeat Lucie Šafářová from the Czech Republic in three sets to win her third french Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title. [ 194 ] [ 195 ] [ 196 ] The acquire made Williams alone the third gear person in history to win each Grand Slam at least three times, joining Margaret Court and Steffi Graf. She is the foremost player to win three straight Grand Slams since she did it herself during the Serena Slam. She besides became the first player to win the Australian-French Open double since Jennifer Capriati in 2001. [ 197 ] Williams completed her moment “ Serena Slam ” ( winning all four Grand Slams in a quarrel ) by winning the 2015 Wimbledon Championships – her 6th Wimbledon and 21st Grand Slam singles title overall. [ 198 ] [ 199 ] Her path to victory at Wimbledon was particularly challenge. She was down a double breakage in the third round versus Heather Watson and two points from kill twice before rallying for the win [ 200 ] and becoming the first base player to qualify for the WTA Finals [ 201 ] ( the earliest that a player had qualified since the event switched to the round-robin format in 2003 ). Williams then defeated three erstwhile No. 1 players –Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova—in succession to advance to the final. [ 202 ] 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. [ 203 ] Williams defeated Muguruza in a nasty two-setter. [ citation needed ] The victory made Williams the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a expansive slam singles title, in addition to having the distinction of being the oldest ladies ‘ expansive slam singles champion of all fourth dimension. [ 204 ] It besides 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. [ 205 ] The workweek of July 13 marked the beginning meter in WTA history that the No. 1 player had more than twice as many points as No. 2. [ 206 ] Following her gain at Wimbledon, Williams was awarded her 7th ESPY for Best Female Tennis Player. [ 207 ] Williams played one couple at the swedish Open in Båstad before withdrawing with an elbow injury. [ 208 ] She was the defend champion at the Bank of the West Classic but withdrew from the tournament in rate for her elbow to get better. [ 209 ] Williams had her 19 peer winning mottle ended by 18-year-old swiss Belinda Bencic, the No. 20, in three close sets in the semifinals of the Canadian Open. [ 210 ] [ 211 ] It was her second gear defeat of the class 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 style, breaking a tie with Evonne Goolagong for standalone fifth-most WTA titles won. [ 212 ] [ 213 ] Williams ‘s attempt at capturing the “ Grand Slam ” ( winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar class ) came to an conclusion in the semifinals of the US Open, where she lost to Roberta Vinci in three sets. [ 214 ] [ 215 ] [ 216 ] The loss has been described by some as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. [ 217 ] [ 218 ] [ 219 ] Nonetheless, Williams secured the year-end No. 1 ranking with her results at the tournament. [ 220 ] 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. [ 221 ] Prior to the announcement, coach Patrick Mouratoglou hinted that Williams might not play again in 2015 due to a lack of motivation and disappointment following her loss at the Open. [ 222 ] On October 5, Williams surpassed Chris Evert for third-most weeks ranked populace No. 1. [ 223 ] Williams held the No. 1 ranking the stallion season for the second base back-to-back class, finishing there for the fifth clock in her career. She was voted WTA Player of the year for the seventh time in her career. [ 224 ] On December 14, Sports Illustrated announced Williams as their Sportsperson of the Year. [ 225 ] She thus became the third base solo woman, and first since 1983, to receive the award. [ 226 ] Williams was besides named ITF World Champion for the sixth fourth dimension in her career. [ 227 ] soon after, it was announced that she was voted Female Athlete of the year by the Associated Press for the one-fourth time. [ 228 ]

2016 : open Era Grand Slam record

Williams withdrew from the Hopman Cup after retiring from her singles match against Australia Gold with excitement of her entrust knee. [ 229 ] Her future tournament was the australian Open, where she was the No. 1 seed and defending champion. She reached the concluding without dropping a adjust, including wins over No. 5, Maria Sharapova, and No. 4, Agnieszka Radwańska, and faced beginning time Grand Slam finalist Angelique Kerber. She was considered the heavy darling to win the title, as she had never lost an australian Open final or semifinal. She besides dominated the neck and neck 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 foremost Grand Slam title. [ 230 ] This marked Williams ‘s first-ever personnel casualty in the final of the australian Open, a well as her beginning three-set loss in the final examination of a Grand Slam. [ 231 ] She had previously been 6–0 and 8–0 respectively .
Serena at the 2016 Wimbledon, winning her 22nd Grand Slam entitle The week of February 15 marked Williams ‘s 157th consecutive week ranked No. 1, passing Navratilova ‘s distinguish of 156 to have the second-longest run in WTA history behind Steffi Graf ‘s 186. She competed in amerind Wells as the No. 1 source. 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 determined en road to the final examination. Williams was upset by No. 13 sow Victoria Azarenka, whom she had defeated the last five times the pair had met, in straight sets. This marked the beginning prison term since 2004 where Williams lost two back-to-back finals. She next played the Miami Open as the defending ace. She lost in the one-fourth round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. This marked her foremost personnel casualty here since 2012 and ended her 20 match winning streak in Miami. This was besides her earliest exit here since 2000, where she lost in the lapp round. During the clay court golf stroke, Williams withdrew from Madrid but entered Rome. She beat Anna-Lena Friedsam and Christina McHale 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 base Rome claim in four years and fourth overall. [ citation needed ] At the french Open, Williams dropped only one fix en route to the final. She defeated Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinals despite being five points away from losing. She then beat storm semifinalist Kiki Bertens to reach her fourth french Open final examination where she faced Garbiñe Muguruza in a repeat of last year ‘s Wimbledon final where Williams was triumphant. The result was not the same as that Wimbledon final as Williams lost to Muguruza in square sets. With this loss, Williams had lost two back-to-back Grand Slam finals for the first clock time in her career. On top of failing to equal Steffi Graf ‘s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams besides completed the Career Grand Slam runner-up set with this loss. [ citation needed ] At Wimbledon, Williams entirely lost one bent en path to the final where she faced Angelique Kerber in a replay of their australian Open final earlier in the year. This time, Williams defeated Kerber in straight sets to last equal Steffi Graf ‘s record of 22 Grand Slams in the Open Era. That was Williams ‘s first Grand Slam title of the year, american samoa well as her 71st career WTA title overall. In what was a bright serve performance, Williams only faced one crack point in the wholly match against Kerber which she saved with an angiotensin converting enzyme. subsequently that day, Williams partnered with sister Venus to win their sixth Wimbledon doubles entitle and 14th doubles Grand Slam title overall, keeping their perfect commemorate at Grand Slam doubles finals intact. On July 24, 2016, Williams withdrew from Rogers Cup citing a shoulder ignition wound. [ 232 ] She next participated in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she was the defending aureate medalist in both singles and doubles and was the heavy favored to retain those titles. Partnering with her sister Venus in the doubles, they suffered a shock die in the first turn, losing to the Czech couple of Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová, which ended their career record of 15–0 dating back to the 2000 Olympics. [ 233 ] In singles, after defeating Daria Gavrilova and Alizé Cornet in the first base two rounds, Williams faced Ukraine ‘s Elina Svitolina in the third round in what was a replay of this year ‘s french Open fourth round, but lost to the ukrainian, bringing an end to her Olympics political campaign. [ 234 ] Days after the Olympics, Williams took a late wildcard for the Western & Southern Open, where she was the fight champion, but then decided to withdraw due to concerns from the like shoulder injury/inflammation from earlier in the summer. [ 235 ] The week of September 5, 2016, marked Williams ‘s 186th straight week ranked No. 1, equalling Steffi Graf ‘s phonograph record for longest run in WTA history. In the semifinals of the US Open, Williams lost to Karolína Plíšková. [ 236 ] Having won the US Open, Angelique Kerber became the No. 1, ending Williams ‘s No. 1 streak. Williams besides pulled out of the WTA Finals ascribable to a shoulder injury. [ citation needed ]

2017 : australian Open victory and pregnancy

Williams started her 2017 season by participating in the WTA Auckland Open for the first time in her career. She defeated Pauline Parmentier to win her first match since the US Open. In the second polish, she lost to Madison Brengle. At the australian Open, she beat former and salute top 10 players Belinda Bencic, Lucie Šafářová, Johanna Konta 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. [ 237 ] It was her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf ‘s Open Era record of 22. It was the first base time in the Open Era that two players aged 35 or older had competed in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The succeed ensured her come back to the No. 1 rate. [ 238 ] [ 239 ] Williams subsequently withdrew from the indian Wells and Miami Opens, citing a knee wound. [ 240 ] On April 19, 2017, Williams revealed that she was 20 weeks pregnant and would miss the remainder of the season. [ 241 ] The timing of her announcement led to the conclusion that she would have been approximately eight to nine weeks meaning when she won the australian Open. [ 242 ] In interviews, she said that she intended to return to tennis after her pregnancy, [ 243 ] saying that she had an “ exorbitant plan ” of competing in the 2018 australian Open. [ 243 ] On September 1, 2017, Williams gave give birth to a daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. [ 244 ] She had a cesarean-section delivery due to a pneumonic embolism during labor movement. [ 245 ] She suffered another pneumonic embolism after giving birth, leaving her bedfast for six weeks and delaying her refund to education. [ 246 ] On December 30, 2017, Williams played her beginning match since giving parturition, an exhibition couple 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 approaching australian Open, citing a miss of sufficient cooking in the wake of her pregnancy. [ 247 ] In February, after overcoming her pregnancy-induced health problems, she returned to the tennis court with her sister. The couple lost to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs ( Netherlands ) in the Fed Cup ‘s first round on February 11. [ 248 ] Despite saying she was 100 % cook to come back to tennis, Williams suffered back to back early on exits at amerind Wells and Miami, losing in the third beat at indian Wells to her sister Venus and the beginning round at Miami to 2018 indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka. [ citation needed ]
Williams at the 2018 French Open Williams made her render to Grand Slam tennis at the 2018 French Open, playing singles and doubles with her sister Venus. In the foremost round, she defeated Kristýna Plíšková in two close sets and late 17th seeded player Ashleigh Barty in the second circle. then, she defeated 11th seed Julia Görges to set up a fourth-round meet against 28th seed Maria Sharapova, whom she had beaten 18 straight times since 2004. Williams withdrew due to an injury to her pectoral muscle sustained in a third-round meet in doubles where she and Venus were defeated by Andreja Klepač and María José Martínez Sánchez. [ 249 ] [ 250 ] In July, Williams entered the Wimbledon Championships and was controversially seed # 25. With a universe rank at the time of 181, [ 251 ] many felt that the decision showed bias and favored Williams unduly. [ 252 ] Others argued that the All England Club, who do not base their seedings on players ‘ stream world rankings – as other distinguished slam tournaments do – had sanely considered Williams ‘s excellent historic record there. Williams herself said : “ I was pleasantly storm. I came in here expecting that possibly I would n’t get a seed. ” [ 252 ] Her seed resulted in Dominika Cibulková losing her place to be seeded. [ citation needed ] By the second gear workweek of the tournament, for the first time in thousand slam history, none of the top ten-spot seeded female players had made it to the quarterfinals. [ 253 ] En route to the quarterfinals, Williams had beaten Arantxa Rus of Holland in circle one, Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria in round 2, Kristina Mladenovic of France in round 3 and Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in round 4. [ 254 ] 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 rate player to ever reach the Wimbledon semifinals. [ 255 ] She met 13th seed Julia Görges of Germany in the semifinal and beat her comfortably in two sets to reach her tenth Wimbledon final examination, the first since giving parentage. She lost in the final examination in heterosexual sets to Angelique Kerber of Germany in a replay of the 2016 Wimbledon final examination. 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 askew loss in her career to Johanna Konta in the first circle, winning good a single bet on. [ 256 ] Williams belated revealed in an interview with Time that she checked Instagram ten minutes prior to the match start, 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 could n’t shake it out of my mind. ” [ 257 ] Williams ‘s adjacent tournament was the Cincinnati Masters. She beat Daria Gavrilova of Australia in true sets in the beginning attack, but lost to Petra Kvitová in the second round in a three-set match that lasted over two hours. [ citation needed ] Her following tournament was the 2018 US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, where she was seeded 17th, although rank 26th in the WTA ranking at the time seeds were determined. She defeated Magda Linette in the first round, Carina Witthöft in the irregular round, her sister and 16th seed Venus in the third round off, Kaia Kanepi in the fourthly round off, and 8th sow Karolína Plíšková in the quarterfinals. The match against Plíšková was a replay of the 2016 US Open semifinal, which Plíšková had won. This was Williams ‘s beginning gain against a player in the peak 10 ( at the prison term of the match ) since her return from pregnancy. Williams won her semifinal match against 19th sow Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, winning a point in the women ‘s singles final against Naomi Osaka of Japan which she lost in directly sets. Williams was warned for illegal coaching, penalized a point for breaking her revel, and then penalized a game for verbal abuse of the chair umpire .

2019 : return to the exceed 10, injuries, Wimbledon and US Open runner-up

Williams started her 2019 temper at the australian Open, having not made an appearance at the tournament since winning the 2017 edition. Seeded 16th, she defeated Tatjana Maria, Eugenie Bouchard, and Dayana Yastremska in the first gear three rounds, before defeating top seed and universe number one Simona Halep in the fourthly. In the quarterfinals, she met 7th seed Karolína Plíšková. Plíšková won the first plant and lead in the irregular, but Williams took command of the match, winning the second gear and quickly taking a huge lead in the third base. however, after Williams twisted her ankle while up match sharpen, Plíšková won six back-to-back games, saving four match points throughout the plant to win the match. This was Williams ‘s earliest get the better of at the australian Open since her fourth-round loss in 2014, 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 count 11. [ citation needed ] Williams went on to defeat Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the amerind Wells Masters in her 2019 political campaign for a third indian Wells pennant. In the third round, viral illness caused her to retire against Spain ‘s Garbiñe Muguruza. This was the second consecutive class she had exited at this stage. She then sustained a recurrence of a long-run 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 circle. [ 258 ] At Wimbledon, Williams reached a major final for the 13th straight class. She besides became the oldest thousand slam finalist in the open era. [ 259 ] She lost the final examination to Simona Halep in two straight sets in under an hour. [ 260 ] At the Canadian Open, Williams defeated Naomi Osaka in straight sets in the quarterfinals and Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova in three sets in the trailer truck finals. Against canadian adolescent Bianca Andreescu, she retired in the first plant after 19 minutes. She told the chair referee of her decision to retire because of back spasm. [ 261 ] Her back problems continued at the Cincinnati Open, where she withdrew concisely before her first-round match, stating, “ unfortunately my back is silent not justly. ” [ 262 ] Williams was seeded eighth at the US Open. In the foremost beat she met Maria Sharapova for the first time since the 2016 australian Open, defeating her in straight sets, yielding precisely one game in each set. She defeated Caty McNally in three sets in the second cycle, and Karolína Muchová and Petra Martić in straight games in the third and one-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 base time in under a month. With Andreescu up a set and five games to one in the irregular set up, Williams launched a spirited rejoinder to level the hardened at 5-games-all. however, Andreescu was able to hold serve and respite Williams to win the claim in straight sets. [ 263 ] This was Williams ‘s last equal of the year which she ended ranked No. 10 .

2020 : First claim since motherliness leave

Top-seeded Williams won her first singles title as a mother at the 2020 ASB Classic, defeating Jessica Pegula in the final. [ 264 ] She besides reached the finals in the doubles tournament with Caroline Wozniacki ; the pair were defeated by Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend. [ 265 ] Hence, she became the first woman in the professional earned run average with at least one title in four decades : the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. [ 266 ] Williams ‘s next tournament was the 2020 Australian Open where she was seeded 8th. She defeated Anastasia Potapova and Tamara Zidanšek in the first gear and second rounds respectively in straight sets, before falling to Wang Qiang in three tight sets in the third base round.

On the resumption of the WTA Tour following a pause caused by COVID-19, Williams entered the Top Seed Open as the top sow. Following a tough three-set succeed over Bernarda Pera in the first round of golf, Williams faced her sister Venus for their 31st WTA match in the second round and came through after dropping the first fixed. Williams went on to suffer a shock kill in the quarter finals to fellow American Shelby Rogers. At the Cincinnati Open, played in New York, Williams received a adieu in the first round, outwit Arantxa Rus in the second, and lost to Maria Sakkari in three sets in the one-third round off. Williams was seeded 3rd at the second major of the class, the 2020 US Open. After two straightaway sets victories to begin with, Williams faced former expansive slam ace Sloane Stephens in the third base round, winning in three sets. In the one-fourth round, Williams avenged her passing to Sakkari in the previous tournament. In the quarter-finals, she defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria who was playing in her first base tournament in three years after giving give birth. She therefore advanced into the semifinals, where she faced Victoria Azarenka, losing in three sets. [ 267 ] [ 268 ] Her couple with Azarenka marked the beginning meter two mothers met in a Grand Slam semi-final. [ 269 ] She besides 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 .
Serena Williams during the 2020 US Open in the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Williams was seeded 6th at the delayed 2020 french Open held in cold and heavy conditions in October. After defeating Kristie Ahn in square sets in the first circle, Williams withdrew before her second round off match against wildcard Tsvetana Pironkova, citing an achilles wound she had sustained during her semi-final defeat to Azarenka at the US Open. This think of for the first time since 2006, Serena failed to reach a Grand Slam final .

2021 : australian Open semifinal, Wimbledon first round retirement, Out of Top 40

Williams started the year by playing the Yarra Valley Classic, where she withdrew prior to her semifinal match against the peak seed, Ashleigh Barty citing a right shoulder injury. [ 270 ] In the australian Open Williams was seeded 10th and lost to the 4th sow, Naomi Osaka, in the semifinal after defeating 2nd semen, Simona Halep, and 7th seed, Aryna Sabalenka, along the way. Williams ‘s catch with Osaka was the first gear time the two had met in a major since the ill-famed 2018 US Open final examination. When leaving the court after losing to Osaka in the australian Open, Williams paused to acknowledge the crowd longer than she normally would. In the press conference following the match, she faced questions about whether she was bidding farewell to tennis and retiring. She said “ I do n’t know, if I always say farewell, I would n’t tell anyone. ” [ 271 ] In May, at the italian Open, Serena Williams played her thousandth match of her career. [ 272 ] She was defeated by Nadia Podoroska in the second rung in straight sets. [ 273 ] On June 29, Williams would suffer an injury during the first fit in the first cycle at Wimbledon against Belarussian player Aliaksandra Sasnovich, forcing her to withdraw from the competition. [ 274 ] [ 275 ] In August 2021, a leg injury forced Williams to withdraw from 2021 US Open. [ 276 ] Her withdrawal saw Williams plummet nineteen places to 41st in the world .

Playing dash

Williams is an aggressive baseliner, whose game is centred around her knock-down serve and forceful groundstrokes. due to her bad act style, she typically hits a big phone 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 service 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 miles per hour ( 207 kilometers per hour ) one in her third round of golf couple against Ayumi Morita, which is the one-third fastest serve recorded in WTA history. [ 277 ] Williams possesses an accurate and reproducible musket ball chuck, allowing her to serve to any position on the court with minimal differences in the place of the ball in the air ; this makes it difficult for opponents to read her service gesture and predict the military position of her serve, allowing her to dominate a rally from the first stroke. [ 278 ] Williams besides possesses effective and accurate gripe and piece serves, which she deploys as second serves, minimising double faults, and preventing opponents from scoring spare points. [ 279 ] Williams is besides known for her forceful groundstrokes, which are considered two of the most potent shots in the history of women ’ s tennis. [ 280 ] She hits both her forehand and her backhand in an exposed stance, allowing her to generate systematically knock-down, heavy, and dominating groundstrokes, and to generate sharp, acute angles, which allow her to hit winners from any side on the woo. [ 281 ] Williams is known for her forehand, which has been described as “ devastating ”. [ 282 ] 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. [ 283 ] Her ambidextrous backhand is evenly dominant, and has been described as one of the greatest backhands of all time. [ 284 ] Williams tends to hit her backhand flat than her forehand, allowing her to hit her backhand with focal ratio, power, and depth both crosscourt and down the production line. Despite playing primarily from the baseline, Williams is an adept net musician due to her extensive doubles have, and will frequently choose to finish points at the web, either with deft reach, aggressive drive volleys, or a solid, powerful, and authentic overhead crash. [ 285 ] Williams possesses an aggressive return of serve – she neutralises powerful first serves, and attacks fallible second serves. She is widely considered one of the greatest return players of all time. [ 286 ] Despite predominantly employing an aggressive game expressive style, she is besides an excellent defender, and is capable of counterpunching against aggressive opponents until she creates an opportunity to hit a winner. She is an especial athlete, known for her movement, speed, court coverage, agility, flexibility, balance, and footwork. Her on-court intelligence, blast survival, and detail construction allow her to execute her gamestyle effectively. [ 287 ] She has been praised for her mental military capability and competitive spirit, with her being described as one of the toughest opponents to beat on the court ; Martina Navratilova declared her mental strength “ improbable ”, [ 288 ] whilst tennis diarist Jon Wertheim claimed that Williams is the toughest player of all clock time. [ 289 ] american english tennis musician Christina McHale praised her composure in high pressure moments, stating that, for Williams, “ being batch is like breathing ”, and that she “ seems to come through every individual time in the most pressure-packed situations ”. [ 290 ] She has been noted for her ability to produce extraordinary comebacks, particularly on the Grand Slam tied, winning three Slams after saving match points, a feat achieved more much than by any other player in tennis history. [ 291 ] 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 as “ a endow ”, and McEnroe declared that she was “ the greatest ” rival in the history of women ‘s tennis. [ 292 ] She has besides been praised for her ability to serve aces at critical moments. As noted by retire actor Li Na in 2016, “ break point down, [ there is an ] 80 % prospect [ she ] serves an one ”. [ 293 ] due to her especial serve, brawny groundstrokes, technical command, aggressive reelect of serve, athleticism, and mental persuasiveness, Williams has been described as one of the most complete players on tour, and one of the greatest players of all fourth dimension, regardless of sex. [ 294 ] Williams has stated that her favorite surface is clay, as the slow pace and high bounce afforded aids point construction, although she besides excels on faster intemperate and grass courts. [ 295 ]

Rivalries

Serena vs. Venus

Williams has played older sister Venus in 31 master matches since 1998. [ 50 ] Overall, Serena is 19–12 against her sister. [ 50 ] Serena has played Venus 15 times in Grand Slam singles and 13 times in early tournaments ( including 11 finals ). [ 296 ] They have met in nine Grand Slam tournament finals, with Serena winning seven times. [ 50 ] Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they played each early in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, which was the first meter in the Open Era that the lapp two players had contested four back-to-back finals in Grand Slam singles. [ 297 ]

Williams vs. Hingis

Williams leads the series 7–6. [ 298 ] One of Williams ‘s first base rivalries was with Martina Hingis, who turned pro less than one year before her ( Hingis in October 1994, Williams in 1995 ). They foremost 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 woo with the exception being a contest on cadaver in Rome 1999, which Hingis won in uncoiled sets. Their final equal took place at the 2002 Miami Open with Williams winning in a passing of barely four games. [ 299 ] Hingis was forced to briefly withdraw citing ankle injuries. [ 300 ]

Williams vs. Capriati

Williams leads the series 10–7. [ 301 ] once considered one of the best rivalries in women ‘s tennis, [ 302 ] the competition between Williams and Capriati was besotted with 12 out of 17 meetings going three sets. The competition, starting in 1999, began one sided with Capriati winning four of their beginning five matches. Williams would then go on to win the following eight. [ 301 ] Williams and Capriati played with exchangeable styles, both known for using their ability and athleticism to gain quick advantages in points. [ 303 ] [ 304 ]

Williams vs. Henin

Williams leads the series 8–6. Henin and Williams met 14 times, five of which were in tournament finals. In expansive slams they have faced each early seven times with Henin leading 4–3. [ 305 ] Opposite personalities and styles of play are frequently cited as what made their competition entertaining. [ 306 ] [ 307 ] In the semifinals of the 2003 French Open, when at 4–2, 30–0 on Williams ‘s suffice in the third fixed, Henin raised her hand to indicate she was not ready to receive ; Williams then put her serve into the net. The arbiter did not see Henin raise her hand, and therefore did not allow Williams a first serve. Williams lost the game and would go on to lose the pit. Their final match took place in the final examination of the 2010 Australian Open where Williams won in three sets, earning her 12th Grand Slam claim. [ 305 ]

Williams vs. Azarenka

Williams leads the series 18–5. The competition began at the 2008 australian Open, and their most late equal was in the semifinals of the 2020 US Open. Williams holds a 10–1 record in Grand Slams. Azarenka is the only person to always win four WTA tour level finals against Williams. [ 308 ] While their competition is heavily favored towards Williams, their matches are known for their fierce competitiveness. [ 309 ]

Williams vs. Sharapova

Williams lead 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 competition sincerely began at the 2004 Wimbledon final, where Williams was the two-time fight supporter ; Sharapova upset her 6–1, 6–4. Williams future lost to Sharapova in the finals of the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6. Since then, however, Williams dominated the competition, winning all of their clashes, with merely 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 concluding match being in the first round of the 2019 US Open ; Williams defeated Sharapova 6–1, 6–1 in one hour precisely. Despite the biased nature of their competition, it is considered one of the most big rivalries on the WTA Tour of the twenty-first century, due to alleged personality clashes, similarly aggressive play styles, and significant media concern. [ 310 ]

match controversies

Accusations of match repair

When both of the Williams sisters entered the top ten-spot and started meet in tournaments, rumors of couple repair started to circulate. John McEnroe, while commenting on the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters, said that “ Serena may not be allowed to win. Richard [ Williams ] may have something to say about this. ” [ 311 ] After losing to Venus at the indian Wells quarterfinals in 2001, Elena Dementieva asserted during a post-match interview that Richard Williams decided the results of matches between the two sisters. [ 312 ] shortly after that, Venus Williams pulled knocked out of her indian Wells semifinal catch against Serena Williams at the last minute, claiming tendinitis ; this occurrence garnered much speculation in the weigh, and some fans demanded their money back. [ 313 ] [ 314 ] [ 315 ]

indian Wells boycott

At the 2001 Ericsson Open the be week, Richard Williams stated that racist comments were made to him in the stands, [ 316 ] and the tournament film director refused to offer Williams an apology for how he was treated. [ citation needed ] As a result, neither sister played the tournament even though it had become a compulsory discontinue on the WTA go since 2009. In 2015, Williams decided to end her 14-year boycott and played. [ 317 ]

2004 US Open

In her US Open quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati, an incorrect overrule was made by moderate umpire Mariana Alves ; the television review showed that Williams ‘s dart landed in bounds. In the lapp equal, newfangled technology being tested made wrong course calls late in the third laid. Williams argued with the president 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 ; however, she accused Alves of impermanent insanity [ 318 ] and said that she “ felt cheat. ” [ 319 ] In a post-match interview Capriati aggressively observed that bad calls had gone against her in the by as well. Alves did not officiate for the remainder of the tournament ; this was not punitive, as normally thought, as she was not scheduled to officiate. [ 320 ] The controversy renewed calls for, and was wide given credit for, the adoption of technology such as the MacCAM and Hawk-Eye systems. [ 321 ]

2009 US Open

In the US Open semifinal round against Kim Clijsters, Williams slammed her racket on the court after losing the first put. She was given a warn, with a potential second trespass carrying a one-point penalty. While trailing 4–6, 5–6, 15–30, Williams ‘s second suffice was called a infantry mistake, resulting in two peer points for Clijsters. Williams gestured with her revel 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. [ 322 ] During the subsequent on-court conference between the electric chair referee, the lineswoman, US Open officials, and Williams, a television receiver microphone picked up Williams saying to the lineswoman, “ I did n’t say I would kill you ! Are you serious ? ” [ 323 ] The incident resulted in Williams being penalized a decimal point for cheating conduct‍—‌necessitated by the earlier admonitory for racket abuse‍—‌meaning Clijsters won the match 6–4, 7–5. The follow day, Williams was issued the maximal permissible on-site fine of $ 10,000 ( plus $ 500 for noise misuse ). After further probe, 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. [ 324 ] They besides placed her on a biennial probation which provided that if Williams committed another crime at a Grand Slam consequence in the adjacent two years, she would be suspended from participating in the follow US Open. If, however, she committed no offenses within the adjacent two years, her very well would be reduced to $ 82,500. [ 324 ] Williams initially refused to apologize for her outburst, both in her post-match press conference [ 325 ] and in an official statement released the be day. [ 120 ] She finally did apologize, stating “ I precisely actually wanted to apologize sincerely because I ‘m a very exultant person, and I ‘m a very intense person and a very emotional person ”, and “ I wanted to offer my earnest apologies to anyone that I may have offended. ” She said she was humbled by the experience. [ 326 ]

2011 US Open

In the final of the 2011 US Open against Samantha Stosur, Williams shouted “ Come on ! ” as the Australian attempted to return a forehand Williams believed to be a achiever. The moderate referee Eva Asderaki awarded the point to Stosur based on the ITF ‘s debate hindrance rule, which states, “ If a player commits any dissemble which hinders his opposition in making a accident, then, if this is consider, he shall lose the point or if involuntary, the point shall be replayed. ” [ 327 ] 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 referee and made several gestures and unflattering comments toward her during the adjacent conversion, including telling Asderaki that if the umpire ever saw Serena coming toward her, she should “ look the early direction ”. [ 328 ] Williams initially gained momentum in the set following the punishment, breaking back in the next game, but finally flagged and lost the pit, 2–6, 3–6. At the end of the match, she declined to offer the accustomed handshake to Asderaki. [ 329 ] [ 330 ] Williams mentioned the incident in her post-match speech as the tournament runner-up, affirm, “ I hit a achiever, but I guess it did n’t count ”, but added, “ It would n’t have mattered in the end. Sam played well. ” [ 331 ] A writer for ESPN suggested that Williams could avoid being found to have violated the terms of the “ probation ” on which she was placed following her 2009 effusion, as she did not appear to have used profanity in addressing Asderaki during the peer. [ 332 ] In the end, Williams was fined $ 2,000 and was not barred from competing in the 2012 US Open because “ Williams ‘s lead, while verbally abusive, [ did ] not rise to the level of a major discourtesy under the Grand Slam code of behave. ” [ 333 ]

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. During that second set up, she was given a code irreverence because her passenger car, Patrick Mouratoglou, gave her coaching hand signals. Williams was upset by the rape, claiming that her coach was simply giving her a hitchhike up, and demanded an apology from president referee Carlos Ramos. Mouratoglou belated admitted that he was coaching. [ 334 ] She received a irregular irreverence for smashing her racket on the court, which resulted in a indicate punishment. After her third base code misdemeanor for verbal misuse against the arbiter, Williams was assessed a game penalty. [ 335 ] [ 336 ] Williams said that she believed she was treated unfairly by the referee because she is a woman. [ 337 ] Williams was fined a total of $ 17,000 including $ 4,000 for a coach irreverence, $ 3,000 for noise abuse and $ 10,000 for verbal maltreatment towards the arbiter. [ 338 ]

other issues

In the begin 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. ” [ 339 ] The beads often broke and scattered across the court. scholar Nancy E. Spencer said that comment that dismissed the Williams ‘ cultural hairstyles served to “ early ” the sisters, peculiarly in the context of a white dominated sport where their appearance and specifically their animalism is a democratic topic for discussion. [ 339 ] In 2000 the Williams sisters faced each other in a Grand Slam Tournament in a semifinal match at Wimbledon, the beginning time the sisters had faced each other in this set up. After Venus won in straight sets, questions arose as to whether or not Richard Williams fixed the match. These questions increased in 2001 when Venus withdrew from her scheduled semifinal match against her sister at amerind Wells. Two days late, in the finals of amerind Wells, Williams was booed throughout the couple. [ 339 ] When Venus and Richard Williams entered the stadium to support Williams in the finals, Richard said that a twelve fans in the stands yelled racial slurs at him and his daughter, and that one fan yelled “ skin him alive. ” [ 339 ] Following this match, the Williams sisters boycotted indian Wells until Williams returned in 2015 and Venus in 2016. [ 340 ] Following the match controversy at the 2018 US Open final examination between Williams and Naomi Osaka, the Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun published a cartoon by Mark Knight depicting Williams having a fit and breaking her racket while the umpire asks her opponent to “ just let her win. ” [ 341 ] The cartoon was widely criticized as racist and sexist, including by Williams ‘s husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and writer J. K. Rowling. [ 342 ] [ 343 ] Complaints centered around the depiction of Williams as an angry black womanhood with exaggerated boastfully lips, a broad flat nose, and positioned in an ape-like airs, and the portrayal of Williams ‘s opponent, Osaka, who is half-Japanese, half-Haitian, with blond hair. [ 344 ] The editor of the Herald Sun argued the cartoon was unfairly criticized on social media. [ 345 ] Knight defended his study, saying that his sarcasm was never about rush or sex, but was about putting a spotlight on badly behavior by sporting superstars. In the contiguous aftermath of the controversy he suspended his chitter account in holy order to “ protect his syndicate and friends. ” [ 345 ] In September 2019, romanian television receiver host Radu Banciu made the follow comments during a live broadcast : “ Serena Williams looks precisely like one of those monkeys at the menagerie with the crimson asses. ” [ 346 ] Romania ‘s National Council for Combating Discrimination fined Banciu approximately $ 1,875 for his comments .

bequest

Williams is hailed by many coaches, players and sportscasters to be one of the best female tennis players of the Open Era. In January 2017, BBC Sport users picked Williams as the greatest female tennis actor of the Open Era. BBC presenter and erstwhile french Open Champion, Sue Barker, said “ Serena is the greatest because this era is thus much more competitive than previous eras. The pace she generates – her serve is without question the greatest ever – combined with her movement and her world power, she pushes her opponents constantly on the back infantry ”. [ 347 ] In 2018, a Tennis.com panel selected Serena as the greatest female tennis player in the Open Era. [ 348 ] Her numerous victories on court have largely been a incontrovertible determine on young girls and boys who see Williams as a role model and an ambassador of tennis. [ 349 ] [ 350 ] however, some writers and tennis fans have questioned whether Williams should be considered a function model. [ 351 ] [ 352 ] [ 353 ] [ 354 ] many commentators, players and sports writers regard Williams as the greatest female tennis actor of all time. [ b-complex vitamin ] In 2018, Federer said the player who probably had best case for tennis “ Greatest Of All Time ”, valet or charwoman, was Serena Williams. [ 356 ] For their first base equal of March 2019, the women of the United States women ‘s national soccer team each wore a jersey with the name of a womanhood they were honoring on the bet on ; Crystal Dunn chose the name of Serena Williams. [ 357 ] On December 29, 2019, The Associated Press named Williams Female Athlete of the Decade for the 2010s. [ 358 ] In May 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest female tennis musician of all time. [ 359 ]

personal animation

Williams is married to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. He proposed to her on December 10, 2016, in Rome. [ 360 ] On December 30, 2016, Williams announced their employment in a Reddit post. [ 361 ] They married on November 16, 2017, in New Orleans. Guests at the marry included Beyoncé, Anna Wintour, Kelly Rowland and Kim Kardashian. [ 362 ] She planned to move to San Francisco with Ohanian after the wedding. [ 243 ] On April 19, 2017, Williams posted a sideways picture of herself on Snapchat that focused on her middle ; it had the caption, “ 20 weeks ”, prompting guess that she was fraught. [ 363 ] Later that evening, her spokesperson confirmed the pregnancy. [ 364 ] The fact that she was 20 weeks pregnant when announcing her pregnancy intend that she was eight weeks pregnant when she won the australian Open earlier that year. [ 365 ] Williams later said that posting the mental picture on Snapchat was an accident, and that she had intended to save the photograph for her records. [ 366 ] In September 2017, Williams gave parentage to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, who is often referred to as “ Olympia ”. [ 367 ] [ 368 ] She had an emergency cesarean-section delivery ascribable to the baby ‘s heart rate dropping during undertaking and was at first devastated about it. [ 245 ] She suffered a pneumonic embolism after giving birth, leaving her bedfast for six weeks and delaying her hark back to train. [ 246 ] ( This meet was not her first with the disease venous thromboembolism ; she had been hospitalized in 2011 for pneumonic embolism thought to have originated from a deep vein thrombosis. ) [ 369 ] In August 2018, she revealed she was suffering from postnatal depression. [ 370 ] Williams gave her daughter a doll, Qai Qai, that has become celebrated on social media. [ 371 ] She has besides 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 besides posts many pictures of her and her daughter on the tennis court with rackets. [ 372 ] Williams was raised a Jehovah ‘s Witness, but states she has “ never very practiced it ”. [ 243 ] She much thanks Jehovah after winning matches. [ 373 ] Williams confirmed that she follows some practices : “ Olympia does n’t celebrate birthdays. We ‘re Jehovah ‘s Witnesses, so we do n’t do that. ” [ 374 ]

Off-court activities

equipment and endorsements

In the early 2000s, Williams wore Puma dress and footwear on motor hotel. [ 375 ] Williams signed a five-year endorsement distribute with Nike in 2004 for $ 40 million, and has been endorsed by the company for clothing, dress, and footwear ever since. [ 376 ] Nike designs custom-made invest for Williams, which she wears on the court along with custom footwear. She used the Wilson Hammer Stretch roll of racquets when she won her first Grand Slam title in 1999, before switching to the Hyper Hammer range. [ 377 ] She switched to the Wilson nCode briefly in 2005, and has used respective iterations of the Wilson Blade racket since 2008. Her racket is typically oversized, with a head size of 104 square inches. Since 2017, Wilson has manufactured a signature racket, the Wilson Blade SW104, which is designed to Williams ‘s specifications. Since 2020, Williams has used a smaller form of this racket, the Wilson Blade SW102 Autograph. [ 378 ] Williams besides has endorsement deals with Gatorade, Delta Air Lines, Audemars Piguet, Aston Martin, Pepsi, Beats by Dre headphones, Mission Athletecare, Berlei brassiere, OPI Products, OnePiece, IBM, Mini, Intel, Tempur and Chase Bank. [ citation needed ] Williams is the current [ when? ] CSO ( Chief Sporting Officer ) for british luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin. She accepted the narrow in June 2015. Williams then posted her first have on social media servicing Twitter, 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. [ 379 ] [ 380 ] Williams is besides on the board of directors at SurveyMonkey. [ 381 ]

fashion

Williams has been noted for her strange and colorful outfits on woo. In 2002, there was a lot lecture when she wore a black lycra catsuit at the US Open. [ 382 ] 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. [ 383 ] At the 2008 Wimbledon, the white impinge coat she wore during warm-up for her opening match was the national of a lot discussion since it was worn despite cheery weather. [ 384 ] Some social scientists have argued that the most negative reactions to Williams ‘s on-court fashion statements, particularly in newspaper coverage of the australian Open and Wimbledon, combines with writers ‘ obsession upon her muscular consistency to distract from her on-court accomplishments and fit this comment within centuries-old narratives of the “ pornographic amorousness ” and “ sexual grotesqueness ” of african and african-american women. [ 385 ] Williams once had a extra lineage with Puma. [ 386 ] In April 2004, she signed a conduct worth US $ 40 million for a agate line with Nike. [ 387 ] Since 2004, she has besides run her own line of graphic designer apparel, “ Aneres ” —her first name spelled backward. In 2009, she launched a touch collection of handbags and jewelry. [ 388 ] The collection, Signature Statement, is sold chiefly on the Home Shopping Network ( HSN ). [ 389 ] In early on 2010, Williams became a certify breeze through technician in homework for her approaching nail solicitation with a company called HairTech. [ 390 ] In 2015, she became the first black female athlete to have a picture by herself on the embrace of Vogue, which she did for the April 2015 issue. [ 391 ] In 2015, she besides presented her HSN Signature Statement collection for the second clock time at the New York Fashion Week Show‍—‌a dress cable entirely made for the retailer HSN. [ 389 ] In May 2018, she wore a skintight catsuit at the 2018 French Open that likened a superhero outfit and helped promote her new clothe line, Serena. [ 392 ] [ 393 ] [ 394 ] The outfit was subsequently banned by the french Tennis Federation president of the united states Bernard Giudicelli, with the explanation : “ It will no long be accepted. One must respect the game and the place. ” Williams then wore a black tutu to her first peer at the 2018 US Open on August 27, 2018, against Magda Linette which she dominated in straight sets. [ 395 ] [ 396 ] In February 2019, Serena Williams was appointed to the control panel of directors of on-line fashion market Poshmark. [ 397 ] In Fall 2019, Williams launched the first collection of her sustainable clothing line, S by Serena. [ 398 ] 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 concenter on inclusivity. [ 399 ]

activism

Williams has become more involve in social change as her career has progressed, primarily using social media as a metier of expressing her views. In 2016 she posted her hold of Black Lives Matter on her Facebook page, voicing her refer about her young nephew being in risk from patrol officers due to his skin color. [ 400 ] During american tennis actor Tennys Sandgren ‘s breakthrough carry to the quarterfinals of the 2018 australian Open, it was revealed that he tweeted insensitive words about the LGBT 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 do n’t need or want one. But there is an entire group of people that deserves an apology. I ca n’t look at my daughter and tell her I sat back and was silence. No ! She will know how to stand up for herself and others – through my example. ” additionally, she attached an prototype that read, “ maturity is being able to apologize and admit when you ‘re ill-timed because you know that your mistakes do n’t define you ”. [ 401 ] besides in 2016, Serena Williams wrote an open letter in Porter Magazine ‘s “ incredible Women of 2016 ” to speak out about sex equality and her personal struggles as a woman in tennis. [ 402 ] She noted that women ‘s contributions to the sport of tennis are not recognized in the way men ‘s contributions are recognized ; she besides 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 enormousness and follow their dreams with firm resilience. ” [ 403 ] Williams received several awards for her activism, namely those directed towards Black communities. She was listed among the 35 “ most noteworthy and beautiful black women ” in the world by Essence magazine. [ 404 ] The NAACP honored Williams with the President ‘s Award at the annual NAACP Image Awards. [ citation needed ] [ 405 ]

entertainment

Williams has appeared on television and besides provided voice ferment on inspire shows : in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons Serena joined the animation along with sister Venus, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. [ 406 ] She has besides provided guest voice work in a 2005 sequence of Playhouse Disney ‘s animate kids show Higglytown Heroes and a 2007 episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, [ 407 ] which she has described as her “ favorite usher ”. [ 408 ] Williams has posed for the 2003 and 2004 editions of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. [ 409 ] In April 2005, MTV announced plans to broadcast a reality appearance around the lives of Serena and Venus, which was finally aired on ABC Family. Williams has appeared twice on MTV ‘s Punk’d and in 2007, appeared in the ABC reality television receiver 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 ; [ 410 ] she has besides guest-starred in episodes of The Bernie Mac Show, ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. [ 411 ] In 2007, Williams appeared in the music television of “ I Want You ” by the american knocker Common, aboard performers Alicia Keys and Kanye West. [ 412 ] In deep 2009, Williams became the first active female professional athlete to appear in a feminine hygiene intersection advertising campaign. A series of on-line videos and print advertisements for Tampax Pearl tampons showed her hitting balls at Mother Nature, played by Catherine Lloyd Burns, to prevent Mother Nature giving her a red-wrapped gift, representing her menstrual menstruation. In the on-line television, the two have dueling press conferences over the “ bad blood ” between them. “ A fortune of celebrities are not open to working with our post, and we ‘re thrilled that Serena is ”, said a brand director for Tampax at Procter & Gamble. [ 413 ] In July 2012, she appeared on ABC ‘s comedic improv television receiver series Trust Us with Your Life and as a lawyer on Lifetime ‘s television series Drop Dead Diva. [ citation needed ] To celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of Pac-Man, Williams made a cameo appearance in the film Pixels, which starred Adam Sandler and Kevin James, and premiered on July 24, 2015. [ 414 ] Williams is known to be near to Beyoncé and made a cameo appearance dance in Beyoncé ‘s music video for the song Sorry in the shoot album Lemonade. Williams said the director told her, “ We would love for you to be in this particular song. It ‘s about intensity and it ‘s about courage and that ‘s what we see you as. ” [ 415 ] In 2021, Williams signed a first-look cope with Amazon Studios. [ 416 ]

language eloquence

In accession to English as her native linguistic process, Williams besides speaks colloquial 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 joy. [ 417 ] [ 418 ]

Miami Dolphins venture

In August 2009, Williams and her sister Venus became minority owners of the Miami Dolphins after purchasing a belittled venture in the team. They live near each other in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, [ 243 ] which is about an hour ‘s drive from the Dolphins ‘ stadium. They are the first black women to hold any come of possession in an NFL franchise. [ 419 ]

Charity cultivate

In 2004 and 2005, Serena and her sister, Venus, visited hospitals and played respective tennis matches in predominantly black cities in order to raise money for the local Ronald McDonald House charities. An ESPN episode was dedicated to the Williams sisters ‘ charity go. [ 404 ] In 2008, as partially of the Serena Williams Foundation ‘s make, Williams helped to fund the structure of the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya. [ 420 ] [ 421 ] [ 422 ] The Serena Williams Foundation besides 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. [ 423 ] [ 424 ] She received a Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundation in 2003 for exercise in breast cancer. [ 425 ] Williams has besides been involved in a number of clinics at schools and community centers, particularly those which have programs focusing on at-risk youth. [ 1 ] She has besides 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 ). [ 1 ] In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Williams, along with other ATP and WTA stars, decided to forgo their final day of preparation for the 2010 australian Open to form a jacob’s ladder event in which all proceeds would go to the Haiti earthquake victims. [ 426 ] Serena, along with her baby Venus, is a patron and contributor of First Serve Miami, a foundation for youth who want to learn tennis but are socially and economically challenged. [ 427 ] [ 428 ] [ 429 ] [ 430 ] She has been an International Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF since 2011 and has helped launch UNICEF ‘s Schools for Asia crusade. [ 431 ] [ 432 ] [ 433 ] [ 434 ] In addition to the Serena Williams Fund in 2016, Serena and Venus collaborated on the Williams Sisters Fund to work on beneficent projects together. [ 435 ] besides 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. [ 435 ] Williams ‘s revert to indian Wells in 2015 was done in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit constitution that provides legal representation to those who might have been denied a average trial. [ 436 ] EJI executive director Bryan Stevenson lauded her courage in supporting his organization. “ It ‘s so rare when athletes at the top of their game are will to embrace a set of issues that, for a distribute of people, are edgier ”, he said. “ This is not aid to orphans. … She was standing when a bunch of her contemporaries remain seated, speaking up when others are being quiet. ” [ 437 ] In 2014, Williams began hosting an annual charity run named “ The Serena Williams Ultimate Fun Run ”. The consequence is in support of the Serena Williams Fund, which helps underprivileged individuals and communities that are affected by mindless ferocity and to ensure adequate access to department of education of youth. [ 438 ] [ 435 ] [ 439 ] In 2017, Williams became Ambassador for the Allstate Foundation ‘s Purple Purse project, an inaugural to provide fiscal authorization to domestic mistreat victims. [ 440 ] [ 441 ] In a iron spill, Vicky Dinges, Allstate ‘s senior frailty president of corporate duty, said, “ we are thrilled to welcome Serena, a longtime advocate and function model for so many, to the Purple Purse kin. Her voice will bring newly audiences into this critical conversation. ” [ 441 ] other charitable organizations Williams supports include the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital, 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. [ 442 ] [ 443 ]

Writing

The Williams sisters, with generator Hilary Beard, wrote a book titled Venus & Serena: Serving From The Hip: 10 Rules For Living, Loving and Winning, which was published in 2005. [ 444 ] [ 445 ] During the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Williams said that she was in the march of writing a television testify storyline, which would be converted into script phase by her agency. She stated that the show would represent subject matter from a desegregate of popular american television shows such as Desperate Housewives and Family Guy. [ 446 ] Williams released her first solo autobiography, entitled On the Line, following the 2009 US Open. [ citation needed ]

soccer

On July 21, 2020, Williams was announced as part of a about all-female investors ‘ group that was awarded a new franchise in the National Women ‘s Soccer League, the clear floor of the women ‘s frolic in the U.S. The new team is set to start play in 2022. Her husband Alexis Ohanian is classified as the “ jumper cable investor ”, but he holds a minority concern, and is the merely male in the ownership group. other announced owners include respective big actresses and media figures, two businesswomen, 14 early members of the U.S. women ‘s national team, and her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian. [ 447 ]

career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH

( W ) Won ; ( F ) finalist ; ( SF ) semifinalist ; ( QF ) quarterfinalist ; ( # R ) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1 ; ( RR ) round-robin stage ; ( Q # ) reservation round ; ( DNQ ) did not qualify ; ( A ) absent ; ( NH ) not held. SR=strike rate ( events won/competed ) To avoid confusion and double over consider, these charts are updated at the stopping point of a tournament or when the musician ‘s engagement has ended .
Current through the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
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 )

desegregate doubles : 4 ( 2–2 )

Records

  • Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
  • Records in italics are currently active streaks.[ when ?]

Filmography

Williams ‘ adolescent transition into a master tennis player is depicted in the 2021 feature movie King Richard. [ 448 ]

See besides

References

bibliography