How well do you know Serena Williams?
Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and changed what women's tennis looked like. These six questions follow her from public courts to the history books.
Did you know?
- The 2021 film King Richard told the story of how Richard Williams trained Venus and Serena, with both sisters working as executive producers. The film focused on the family's early years in Compton and the unusual choices their father made, such as keeping them out of junior tournaments for a time.
- Serena was known for her pre-match routines and superstitions. She was said to bounce the ball five times before her first serve and twice before her second, and to wear the same pair of socks throughout a tournament once she had started winning.
- Serena and Venus won Olympic doubles gold together in Sydney in 2000, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. In 2012 Serena also won the singles, beating Maria Sharapova in the final for the loss of just one game, one of the most one-sided Olympic finals in tennis history.
A career that changed tennis
Serena Jameka Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1981, the youngest of five sisters. Coached from early childhood by her parents, she turned professional at 14. In 1999, at 17, she won the US Open, becoming the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Althea Gibson in 1958. Over the next two decades she won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, spent more than 300 weeks as world number one and became one of the best-known athletes on the planet.
Two sisters, one court
Serena's career is closely tied to her older sister Venus, also a world number one and a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion. The two met in nine Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning seven. As a doubles team they were almost unbeatable on the biggest stages, winning 14 Grand Slam doubles titles without losing a single final. Their success inspired a generation of young players, especially Black girls, who had rarely seen champions who looked like them.
Power and presence
Serena combined one of the most powerful serves in the history of the women's game with fierce returning and athletic movement. Her serve regularly reached speeds above 200 kilometres per hour, and in tight moments it often won her free points. She was also known for her competitive spirit and for coming back from serious setbacks, including injuries and health problems that kept her off the tour for long periods, before returning to win more major titles.
Life after tennis
In 2022 Serena announced that she was 'evolving away' from tennis, preferring that phrase to the word retirement, and played her final tournament at the US Open. Even before then she had founded Serena Ventures, an investment firm that backs start-ups, many led by women and people of colour. She has also run a fashion label and supported education projects, including schools built in Jamaica and Kenya in partnership with charities.