An all-time tennis star and a role model, Serena Williams has made an invaluable contribution to what the sport and female players are today. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the background of the illustrious athlete, her accomplishments, and the factors that make Serena a legend.
Biography
The eminent tennis player was born on September 26, 1981, in Michigan, to the family of Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Serena Jameka Williams was the youngest among five daughters, one of whom is another tennis A-lister, Venus Williams.
A few years later, the family moved to California, where Serena took her first steps toward a head-spinning tennis career that spanned 27 years. She and Venus got into the sport together, taking lessons on public courts from their father, who further became the sisters’ official coach.
Pursuing greater opportunities, the Williamses moved to Florida, where the girls enrolled in a tennis academy run by Rick Macci, a renowned American coach. Then, the future star began her rise, becoming the first under-10 player on the United States Tennis Association junior tour.
In 1995, four years after her triumph on the USTA tour, Serena entered her professional career, which first was a classic rise-and-fall story. Yet, tremendous tenacity and talent paid off. In just one year, from 1997 to 1998, she surged from No.99 to No.20 in the world tennis rankings.
The prolific 1999 season made Williams No.4 on the globe, bringing her winning titles at a host of tournaments, including the following:
- The Open Gaz de France
- The Evert Cup
- The French Open
- The JPMorgan Chase Open
- The US Open
The player’s titles include both singles and doubles, which she won with her brilliant sibling. The magnificent Williams sisters were six-time winners of the Wimbledon Championships. Moreover, the unstoppable duo captured gold at the 2000, 2008, and 2012 Olympic Games.
The sisters, however, repeatedly played on opposite sides of the court. The 2003 Australian Open was one of their dramatic matchups. The tennis tournament resulted in the “Serena Slam,” making the younger sister the holder of all four Grand Slam titles at once.
The feat recurred in 2015 when Serena won each championship of the four majors. 2017 brought her a record 23rd singles title at the Open Era Grand Slam and once again elevated her to No.1 in the rankings. The same year, the 34-year-old announced her pregnancy.
The stellar tennis player renewed her career after giving birth to her daughter Olympia. The comeback was all ups and downs, with a series of losses mainly due to injuries. The queen played her 1,000th game in 2021 and rounded out her monumental career in 2022.
After waving goodbye to professional tennis, Serena has gained more time for the family: her husband, Alexis Ohanian, Olympia, and her second daughter, Adira River, born in 2023. The former tennis player is currently involved in multiple charities and business ventures.
Serena Williams by the Numbers
Over her 27-year-old professional career, Serena Williams has amassed countless victories, records, and accolades, not to mention hordes of supporters and admirers from all over the world. Here are the athlete’s accomplishments expressed in numbers that do speak volumes.
| 🔢 Number | 🏅 Achievement |
| 1 | Highest ranking according to the Women’s Tennis Association |
| 1 | Gold medal earned in singles at the Olympics |
| 2 | Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles, both won with Max Mirniy |
| 3 | Gold medals earned in doubles at the Olympics |
| 6 | Grand Slam titles in singles won without a single set loss |
| 7 | Australian Open titles in women’s singles, an all-time record |
| 14 | Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles, all won with Venus Williams |
| 21 | Grand Slam matсhes won undefeated in 2002 |
| 23 | Grand Slam titles in singles, an all-time record in the Open Era |
| 23 | Total career titles in doubles |
| 33 | Grand Slam tournament finals in singles |
| 47 | Total career hardcourt titles, an all-time women’s tennis record |
| 73 | Total career titles in singles |
| 86.8 | Win-loss percentage in singles, fourth in women’s tennis history |
| 186 | Weeks in a row ranked No.1 by the Women’s Tennis Association |
| 319 | Total weeks ranked No.1 by the Women’s Tennis Association |
| 367 | Total career wins, an all-time women’s tennis record |
| 423 | Total career matches, an all-time women’s tennis record |
| 858-156 | Win-loss career record in singles |
| 94,816,730 | US dollars received for the entire career as prize money |
Serena Williams’s imprint was great not only on world tennis but also on sports betting. Her flamboyant personality and breathtaking style with hard-hitting serves attracted crowds anxious to place bets on every match and tennis championship featuring the standout player.
Online tennis betting is now one of the most popular options among sports fans and bettors worldwide, especially in India. The reasons are that tournaments are held all year round, the sport is dynamic and fascinating to follow, and it allows for a broad array of betting markets.
One of the current hot spots for online tennis game betting is 1xBet. The frontmost sportsbook holds a huge online collection of tennis competitions for pre-match and live bets, with high-quality streams. To top it all off, 1xBet offers odds tennis that are always great.
Why Serena Williams Is the GOAT
The numbers mentioned above are cold, hard facts showcasing the greatness of the tennis player. What’s more, Serena is named the best of the best by a lot of her peers, sports experts, commentators, and ordinary people who never saw her stats but watched her play.
But still, there is more to those copious honours, kudos, and compliments. Serena Williams has earned real respect and credibility and has become a person who overwhelmingly impacted the world of sports and people’s lives. Now, a few more arguments for her being the GOAT.
Revolutionary
First and foremost, Williams has reinvented tennis in many ways. The black girl became the queen of the sport that used to be dominated by whites. Throughout her entire career, she faced racism, be it comments from the sports professionals or booing from the stands.
The player has withstood it all and proved that any sport is for everyone, regardless of skin color and background. Besides racial boundaries, she’s erased gender boundaries, too, by playing with a powerful and aggressive style that wasn’t typical for women tennis players before.
Serena has revolutionized how a female player looks and behaves on the court. Her bold outfits challenged the traditional yet outdated dress code. She also showed that a woman can be free and self-expressed, beyond clothing, by being emotional and passionate while playing.
Inspiration
Serena has become an inspiration for all the younger generations to come. Looking up to the tennis icon, many kids felt affection for the sport, joined a tennis club, and built their careers around it. Her example is especially vivid and valuable for kids of color and young girls.
The icon’s empowerment has extended far beyond tennis. Once bringing diversity to the realm of sports in the United States, where basketball and American football are clear-cut favorites, Williams has encouraged youngsters of all backgrounds to take up more diverse sports.
The celebrated athlete has been a source of inspiration for people outside of sports, too. She’s come to symbolize equal opportunity for all, whatever their sphere of life. Serena is a role model for women, people of color, and everyone who enters new terrains previously inaccessible.
Contributor
Actions speak louder than words. And when it comes to Williams’s contributions, there are plentiful examples of her real-life deeds. Thanks to Serena, hundreds of kids can play the game and receive scholarships at a tennis center created with her comprehensive support.
Her philanthropic work covers a wide range of areas, including the rights of children, women, and socially and economically disadvantaged people all across the globe. Williams contributes to multiple international foundations that focus on medical research and treatment.
Serena is well-known for her social involvement. She speaks openly, mostly through social media, about sensitive issues, such as inequality and discrimination. She utilizes her world fame and influence to protect and benefit those whose voices are often unheard.
Human Being
Despite her fantastic athletic accomplishments, including myriad champion titles and records, Serena remains as human as everyone else. More importantly, she’s honest and open about it. The adamant athlete has never been afraid to appear weak or too human on and off the court.
When giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, Williams underwent an emergency cesarean section and a series of subsequent surgeries due to complications. Afterwards, she was torn between her newborn baby and her renewed career, all compounded by depression.
Still, Serena found the courage to share her story with millions, thus supporting other women. She stays open and lets others know they’re not alone and everyone can have hard times in life, even a multiple Olympic gold medalist and the greatest tennis player of all time.
Conclusion
Serena Jameka Williams has etched her name in the history of world tennis and sports as a whole. She’s made a prodigious career, winning a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era and remaining the number one female tennis player for 186 consecutive weeks.
Williams can rightfully be called the greatest and most influential athlete ever, not only for her staggering athletic feats but also for her enormous input to popularising sports and enhancing people’s lives. Largely due to Serena, tennis is so much loved, followed, and bet on worldwide.
