Women's tennis\n
\n
Representing $\"\"$ United States\n
Olympic Games\n
$\"Gold$	2000 Sydney	Doubles\n
$\"Gold$	2008 Beijing	Doubles\n
$\"Gold$	2012 London	Singles\n
$\"Gold$	2012 London	Doubles\n

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981)^[1] is an American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time,^[a] she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 319 weeks (third-most of all time), and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. Williams won 73 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including 23 major women's singles titles \u2014 the most in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time. She is the only player to accomplish a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.^[18]\n

Along with her elder sister Venus, Serena Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1995, she won her first major singles title at the 1999 US Open. From the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open she was dominant, winning all four major singles titles (each time over Venus in the final) to achieve both a career Grand Slam and a non-calendar year Grand Slam (nicknamed the \"Serena Slam\"). The next few years saw Williams capture two more major singles titles, but suffer from injury and decline in form. Starting in 2007, however, she gradually returned to form despite continued injuries, reclaiming the world No. 1 singles ranking. Beginning with the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, Williams returned to dominance, claiming Olympic gold (completing the career Golden Slam in singles)^[19] and winning eight out of thirteen singles majors, including all four in a row from 2014\u20132015 to achieve a second \"Serena Slam\". At the 2017 Australian Open, she won her 23rd major singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record. After becoming pregnant, Williams took a break from professional tennis, but reached four major finals upon returning to play. In August 2022, Williams announced her impending \"evolution\" away from professional tennis, and played her final match at the 2022 US Open.^[20]\n

Williams also won 23 WTA Tour-level doubles titles. This includes 14 major women's doubles titles, all won with her sister Venus, and the pair was unbeaten in major doubles finals (the best unbeaten record in major finals in any discipline of the sport).^[21]^[22] The sisters achieved a non-calendar year Grand Slam between the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and the 2010 French Open, which granted them the doubles world No. 1 ranking. Williams won four Olympic gold medals, three in women's doubles\u2014an all-time joint record in tennis, shared with her sister.^[23]^[24] The duo are the only women in the Open Era to win Olympic gold in both singles and doubles.^[25] Williams also won two mixed doubles majors, both in 1998. She is the only player, male or female, to complete three career Golden Slams \u2013 one in women's singles and two in women's doubles.^[18]\n

The ascent of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour.^[26]^[27]^[28]^[29] Serena holds a combined 39 major titles \u2014 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles \u2014 placing her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era for total major titles. She is the most recent woman to simultaneously hold all four major singles titles (2002\u20132003 and 2014\u20132015), and to win the Surface Slam (major titles on hard, clay and grass courts in the same calendar year), which she accomplished in 2015. She is also, with Venus, the most recent player to have simultaneously held all four major women's doubles titles (2009\u20132010).\n

Williams was the world's highest paid woman athlete in 2016, earning almost $29 million.^[30] She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on Forbes' list of the 100 highest-paid athletes, with $27 million in prize money and endorsements. She is the highest-earning woman athlete of all time.^[31]\n

Williams won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year a record four times (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018),^[32] Comeback of the Year once (2007),^[32] and in December 2015 was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine.^[33] In 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest female tennis player in history.^[34]\n

Tournament	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	SR	W\u2013L	Win %\n
Australian Open\n	2R\n	3R\n	4R\n	QF\n	A\n	W\n	A\n	W\n	3R\n	W\n	QF\n	W\n	W\n	A\n	4R\n	QF\n	4R\n	W\n	F\n	W\n	A\n	QF\n	3R\n	SF\n	A\n	7 / 20\n	92\u201313\n	88%\n
French Open\n	4R\n	3R\n	A\n	QF\n	W\n	SF\n	QF\n	A\n	A\n	QF\n	3R\n	QF\n	QF\n	A\n	1R\n	W\n	2R\n	W\n	F\n	A\n	4R\n	3R\n	2R\n	4R\n	A\n	3 / 19\n	69\u201314\n	83%\n
Wimbledon\n	3R\n	A\n	SF\n	QF\n	W\n	W\n	F\n	3R\n	A\n	QF\n	F\n	W\n	W\n	4R\n	W\n	4R\n	3R\n	W\n	W\n	A\n	F\n	F\n	NH\n	1R\n	1R\n	7 / 21\n	98\u201314\n	88%\n
US Open\n	3R\n	W\n	QF\n	F\n	W\n	A\n	QF\n	4R\n	4R\n	QF\n	W\n	SF\n	A\n	F\n	W\n	W\n	W\n	SF\n	SF\n	A\n	F\n	F\n	SF\n	A\n	3R\n	6 / 21\n	108\u201315\n	88%\n
Win\u2013loss\n	8\u20134\n	11\u20132\n	12\u20133\n	18\u20134\n	21\u20130\n	19\u20131\n	14\u20133\n	12\u20132\n	5\u20132\n	19\u20133\n	19\u20133\n	23\u20132\n	18\u20131\n	9\u20132\n	17\u20132\n	21\u20132\n	13\u20133\n	26\u20131\n	24\u20133\n	7\u20130\n	15\u20132\n	18\u20134\n	8\u20132\n	8\u20133\n	3\u20132\n	23 / 81\n	368\u201356\n	87%\n

Result\n	Year\n	Tournament\n	Surface\n	Opponents\n	Score\n
Win	1999	US Open	Hard	$\"Switzerland\"$ Martina Hingis	6\u20133, 7\u20136^(7\u20134)\n
Loss	2001	US Open	Hard	$\"United$ Venus Williams	2\u20136, 4\u20136\n
Win	2002	French Open	Clay	$\"United$ Venus Williams	7\u20135, 6\u20133\n
Win	2002	Wimbledon	Grass	$\"United$ Venus Williams	7\u20136^(7\u20134), 6\u20133\n
Win	2002	US Open (2)	Hard	$\"United$ Venus Williams	6\u20134, 6\u20133\n
Win	2003	Australian Open	Hard	$\"United$ Venus Williams	7\u20136^(7\u20134), 3\u20136, 6\u20134\n
Win	2003	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	$\"United$ Venus Williams	4\u20136, 6\u20134, 6\u20132\n
Loss	2004	Wimbledon	Grass	$\"Russia\"$ Maria Sharapova	1\u20136, 4\u20136\n
Win	2005	Australian Open (2)	Hard	$\"United$ Lindsay Davenport	2\u20136, 6\u20133, 6\u20130\n
Win	2007	Australian Open (3)	Hard	$\"Russia\"$ Maria Sharapova	6\u20131, 6\u20132\n
Loss	2008	Wimbledon	Grass	$\"United$ Venus Williams	5\u20137, 4\u20136\n
Win	2008	US Open (3)	Hard	$\"Serbia\"$ Jelena Jankovi\u0107	6\u20134, 7\u20135\n
Win	2009	Australian Open (4)	Hard	$\"Russia\"$ Dinara Safina	6\u20130, 6\u20133\n
Win	2009	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	$\"United$ Venus Williams	7\u20136^(7\u20133), 6\u20132\n
Win	2010	Australian Open (5)	Hard	$\"Belgium\"$ Justine Henin	6\u20134, 3\u20136, 6\u20132\n
Win	2010	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	$\"Russia\"$ Vera Zvonareva	6\u20133, 6\u20132\n
Loss	2011	US Open	Hard	$\"Australia\"$ Samantha Stosur	2\u20136, 3\u20136\n
Win	2012	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	$\"Poland\"$ Agnieszka Radwa\u0144ska	6\u20131, 5\u20137, 6\u20132\n
Win	2012	US Open (4)	Hard	$\"Belarus\"$ Victoria Azarenka	6\u20132, 2\u20136, 7\u20135\n
Win	2013	French Open (2)	Clay	$\"Russia\"$ Maria Sharapova	6\u20134, 6\u20134\n
Win	2013	US Open (5)	Hard	$\"Belarus\"$ Victoria Azarenka	7\u20135, 6\u20137^(6\u20138), 6\u20131\n
Win	2014	US Open (6)	Hard	$\"Denmark\"$ Caroline Wozniacki	6\u20133, 6\u20133\n
Win	2015	Australian Open (6)	Hard	$\"Russia\"$ Maria Sharapova	6\u20133, 7\u20136^(7\u20135)\n
Win	2015	French Open (3)	Clay	$\"Czech$ Lucie \u0160af\u00e1\u0159ov\u00e1	6\u20133, 6\u20137^(2\u20137), 6\u20132\n
Win	2015	Wimbledon (6)	Grass	$\"Spain\"$ Garbi\u00f1e Muguruza	6\u20134, 6\u20134\n
Loss	2016	Australian Open	Hard	$\"Germany\"$ Angelique Kerber	4\u20136, 6\u20133, 4\u20136\n
Loss	2016	French Open	Clay	$\"Spain\"$ Garbi\u00f1e Muguruza	5\u20137, 4\u20136\n
Win	2016	Wimbledon (7)	Grass	$\"Germany\"$ Angelique Kerber	7\u20135, 6\u20133\n
Win	2017	Australian Open (7)	Hard	$\"United$ Venus Williams	6\u20134, 6\u20134\n
Loss	2018	Wimbledon	Grass	$\"Germany\"$ Angelique Kerber	3\u20136, 3\u20136\n
Loss	2018	US Open	Hard	$\"Japan\"$ Naomi Osaka	2\u20136, 4\u20136\n
Loss	2019	Wimbledon	Grass	$\"Romania\"$ Simona Halep	2\u20136, 2\u20136\n
Loss	2019	US Open	Hard	$\"Canada\"$ Bianca Andreescu	3\u20136, 5\u20137\n

Result\n	Year\n	Tournament\n	Surface\n	Partner\n	Opponents\n	Score\n
Loss	1998	French Open	Clay	$\"Argentina\"$ Luis Lobo	$\"United$ Justin Gimelstob $\"United$ Venus Williams	4\u20136, 4\u20136\n
Win	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	$\"Belarus\"$ Max Mirnyi	$\"India\"$ Mahesh Bhupathi $\"Croatia\"$ Mirjana Lu\u010di\u0107	6\u20134, 6\u20134\n
Win	1998	US Open	Hard	$\"Belarus\"$ Max Mirnyi	$\"United$ Patrick Galbraith $\"United$ Lisa Raymond	6\u20132, 6\u20132\n
Loss	1999	Australian Open	Hard	$\"Belarus\"$ Max Mirnyi	$\"South$ David Adams $\"South$ Mariaan de Swardt	4\u20136, 6\u20134, 6\u20137^(5\u20137)\n

Time span\n	Selected Grand Slam tournament records\n	Players matched\n
1998 Australian Open \u2013 2022 US Open	Won 367 matches at all four Grand Slams	Stands alone\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2003 Australian Open	Career Grand Slam in singles	Doris Hart Maureen Connolly Shirley Fry Margaret Court Billie Jean King Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf Maria Sharapova\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2012 Olympics	Career Golden Slam in singles	Steffi Graf\n
1999 French Open \u2013 2003 Australian Open	Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles	Doris Hart Shirley Fry Margaret Court Martina Navratilova\n
1999 French Open \u2013 2012 Olympics	Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles	Stands alone\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2017 Australian Open	Thirteen hardcourt Grand Slam singles titles	Stands alone\n
2012 Olympics \u2013 2015 Wimbledon	Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold and all four Grand Slams in singles	Steffi Graf\n
2008 Olympics \u2013 2010 French Open	Simultaneous holder of Olympic doubles gold and all four Grand Slams in doubles (with Venus Williams)	Pam Shriver Gigi Fern\u00e1ndez Venus Williams Barbora Krej\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 Kate\u0159ina Siniakov\u00e1\n
2008 Olympics \u2013 2015 Wimbledon	Simultaneous holder of Olympic gold and all four Grand Slams in both singles and doubles	Stands alone\n
1999 French Open \u2013 2012 Olympics	Double Career Golden Slam (2+ titles at all four Grand Slams & Olympic golds) in doubles (with Venus Williams)	Gigi Fern\u00e1ndez Venus Williams\n
2002 French Open \u2013 2003 Australian Open	Winner of non-calendar year Grand Slam	Maureen Connolly Margaret Court Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf\n
2002 French Open \u2013 2015 Wimbledon	Winner of two non-calendar year Grand Slams	Steffi Graf\n
2002 French Open \u2013 2010 French Open	Winner of non-calendar year Grand Slams in both singles and doubles	Martina Navratilova\n
2002 French Open \u2013 2016 Wimbledon	Winner of 10+ Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades (10 from 2000 to 2009 and 12 from 2010 to 2017)	Stands alone\n
2002 French Open \u2013 2013 French Open	Winner of all four Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades	Margaret Court Steffi Graf\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2013 French Open	Winner of Grand Slam singles titles in three decades	Blanche Bingley Martina Navratilova\n
1999 French Open \u2013 2016 Wimbledon	First 14 Grand Slam doubles finals won (with Venus Williams)	Venus Williams\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2015 French Open	Triple Career Grand Slam (3+ titles at all four Grand Slams) in singles	Margaret Court Steffi Graf\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2013 French Open	Double Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles	Margaret Court Martina Navratilova\n
1999 US Open \u2013 2015 Wimbledon	6+ titles at three different Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open)	Stands alone\n
2002 Wimbledon \u2013 2017 Australian Open	7+ titles at two different Grand Slams (Australian Open and Wimbledon)	Helen Wills\n
2012 Wimbledon \u2013 2015 Australian Open	Career Grand Slam in singles after age 30	Stands alone\n
2012 Wimbledon \u2013 2015 Australian Open	Career Golden Slam in singles after age 30	Stands alone\n
2012 Wimbledon \u2013 2017 Australian Open	Double Career Grand Slam in singles after age 30	Stands alone\n
2012 Wimbledon \u2013 2017 Australian Open	Ten Grand Slam singles titles after age 30	Stands alone\n
2012 Australian Open \u2013 2017 Australian Open	3 finals at each of the four Grand Slams since turning 30	Stands alone\n

Grand Slam tournaments\n	Time span\n	Records at each Grand Slam tournament\n	Players matched\n
Australian Open	2007	Unseeded winner of singles title	Chris O'Neil\n
Australian Open	2003\u20132017	7 women's singles titles (Open Era record)	Stands alone\n
Australian Open	2003\u20132017	8 finals overall	Stands alone\n
Australian Open	2003\u20132017	14 years between first and last title	Stands alone\n
Australian Open	2003\u20132017	14 years between first and last final	Chris Evert Venus Williams\n
Australian Open	1998\u20132021	92 match wins	Stands alone\n
French Open	2002\u20132015	13 years between first and last title	Stands alone\n
French Open	2002\u20132016	14 years between first and last final	Stands alone\n
French Open \u2013 Wimbledon	2002, 2015	Accomplished a \"Channel Slam\": Winning both tournaments in the same year	Margaret Court Billie Jean King Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf\n
Wimbledon	2012\u20132016	3 women's singles titles after age 30	Stands alone\n
Wimbledon	2002\u20132016	14 years between first and last title	Stands alone\n
Wimbledon	2002\u20132019	17 years between first and last final	Venus Williams\n
US Open	1999\u20132012	Winner of singles titles in three decades	Stands alone\n
US Open	1999\u20132014	6 women's singles titles (Open Era record)	Chris Evert\n
US Open	2002, 2008, 2014	3 titles won without losing a set	Chris Evert\n
US Open	1998\u20132022	108 match wins	Stands alone\n
US Open	1999\u20132014	15 years between first and last title	Stands alone\n
US Open	1999\u20132019	20 years between first and last final	Stands alone\n
US Open	2011, 2013\u20132014	Won as US Open Series Champion multiple times	Stands alone\n
US Open	2012\u20132014	3 women's singles titles after age 30	Stands alone\n

Time span\n	Other selected records\n	Players matched\n
1999\u20132016	23 Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles titles overall	Stands alone\n
1999\u20132019	33 Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles finals overall	Stands alone\n
1998\u20132022	266 Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles match wins overall	Stands alone\n
1999\u20132015	16 hardcourt Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles titles	Stands alone\n
1999\u20132019	24 hardcourt Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 singles finals	Stands alone\n
2001	Won WTA Tour Championships on debut	Maria Sharapova Petra Kvitov\u00e1 Dominika Cibulkov\u00e1 Ashleigh Barty\n
2010	Ranked No.1 in singles and doubles simultaneously	Martina Navratilova Arantxa S\u00e1nchez Vicario Martina Hingis Lindsay Davenport Kim Clijsters\n
2013\u20132016	186 consecutive weeks at No.1	Steffi Graf\n
2002\u20132015	8 Miami Masters singles titles overall	Stands alone\n
1999\u20132015	10 Miami Masters singles finals overall	Stands alone\n
2000\u20132012	4 Olympic Gold Medals overall	Venus Williams\n
2000\u20132012	3 Olympic gold medals in Doubles (with Venus Williams)	Venus Williams\n
2000\u20132016	93.75% (15\u20131) Olympic match winning record in doubles (with Venus Williams)	Venus Williams\n
2001, 2012	Two Year-End Championships won without losing a set	Martina Navratilova\n
2001\u20132015	Winning percentage of 82.86% at Year-End Championships	Stands alone\n
1999\u20132004, 2008\u20132017, 2019	17 years with winning percentage 80%+	Martina Navratilova\n
1999\u20132020	47 career hardcourt titles	Stands alone\n
1998\u20132022	538 career hardcourt match wins	Stands alone\n
1990s, 2000s, 2010s & 2020s	The first player in the Open Era to win singles titles across four decades	Stands alone\n
2013	Most prize money won in a single season ($12,385,572)	Stands alone\n
1995\u20132022	$94,618,080 prize money overall	Stands alone\n

Year\n	Title\n	Role\n	Notes\n
2001\n	The Simpsons\n	Herself (voice)\n	Episode: \"Tennis the Menace\"\n
2002\n	My Wife and Kids\n	Miss Wiggins\n	Episode: \"Crouching Mother, Hidden Father\"^[489]\n
2003\n	Street Time\n	Meeka Hayes\n	Episode: \"Fly Girl\"\n
2004\n	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit\n	Chloe Spiers\n	Episode: \"Brotherhood\"^[490]\n
2004\n	The Division\n	Jennifer Davis\n	Episode: \"Lost and Found\"\n
2004\n	Hair Show\n	Agent Ross\n	Film\n
2005\n	Higglytown Heroes\n	Snowplow Driver Hero (voice)\n	Episode: \"Higgly Hoedown/Eubie's Turbo Sled\"\n
2005\n	ER\n	Alice Watson\n	Episode: \"Two Ships \"^[490]\n
2005\n	All of Us\n	Herself\n	Episode: \"Not So Wonderful News\"\n
2005\n	America's Next Top Model\n	Herself\n	Episode: \"The Girl with the Worst Photo in History\"\n
2005\u20132007\n	Punk'd\n	Herself\n	3 episodes\n
2007\n	Loonatics Unleashed\n	Queen Athena (voice)\n	Episode: \"Apocalypso\"^[491]\n
2007\n	Finding Forever music video\n	Herself\n	Cameo in \"I Want You\"^[492]\n
2007\n	Avatar: The Last Airbender\n	Ming (voice)\n	Episode: \"The Day of Black Sun: Part 1 \u2013 The Invasion\"\n
2007\n	Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race\n	Herself\n	Episode: \"Episode 1\"\n
2006\n	The Bernie Mac Show\n	Herself\n	Episode: \"Spinning Wheels\"^[490]\n
2008\n	The Game\n	Herself\n	Episode: \"The List Episode\"\n
2008\n	MADtv\n	Herself / Black Racket\n	Episode: \"Episode 7\"\n
2011\n	Keeping Up with the Kardashians\n	Herself\n	Episode: \"Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event \u2013 Part 2\"\n
2012\n	Trust Us with Your Life\n	Herself\n	\n
2012\n	Drop Dead Diva\n	Kelly Stevens\n	Episode: \"Rigged\"\n
2012\n	Venus and Serena\n	Herself\n	Documentary\n
2013\n	The Legend of Korra\n	Female Sage (voice)\n	Episode: \"Beginnings, Part 1\"\n
2015\n	7 Days in Hell\n	Herself\n	Film\n
2015\n	Pixels\n	Herself\n	Cameo^[493]\n
2016\n	Lemonade music video\n	Herself\n	Cameo in \"Sorry\"^[494]\n
2016\n	Serena: The Other Side of Greatness\n	Herself\n	Documentary\n
2018\n	Ocean's 8\n	Herself\n	Cameo\n
2018\n	Being Serena\n	Herself\n	Documentary\n
2021\n	King Richard\n	Executive producer\n	Film\n
2022\n	Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery\n	Herself\n	Cameo^[495]\n
2023\n	PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie\n	Yoga Yvette (voice)\n	Film\n

Early life

Professional career

1995\u20131998: Professional debut

1999: First major and becoming a top-5 player

2000\u20132001: Olympic gold, US Open final, and Indian Wells boycott

2002\u20132003: \"Serena Slam\"

2004\u20132007: Injuries and comeback

2008\u20132010: Injuries, controversy, and return to No. 1

2011\u20132013: Return to dominance, Career Golden Slam

2014\u20132015: Second \"Serena Slam\"

2016: Equalling the records of Steffi Graf

2017: Australian Open victory and pregnancy

2018: Return to tennis, Wimbledon, and controversies

2019: Return to the top 10

2020\u20132022: Final years

Farewell tour

Rivalries

Serena vs. Venus

Williams vs. Hingis

Williams vs. Capriati

Williams vs. Henin

Williams vs. Azarenka

Williams vs. Sharapova

Legacy

Player profile

Playing style

Coaches

Endorsements

Rackets

Career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 33 (23\u201310)

Women's doubles: 14 (14\u20130)

Mixed doubles: 4 (2\u20132)

Records

Personal life

Other activities

Philanthropy

Business ventures

Activism

Fashion

Media and publishing

Filmography

See also

Explanatory notes

References

General references

Further reading

External links

Serena Williams

What happened with Serena Williams on 26 September, 1981

26 September, 1981