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Serena Jameka Williams (born
September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player and the
current World Number 1 ranked female player. She has been ranked World
Number 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on five separate
occasions. She regained this ranking for the fifth time in her career on
the November 2, 2009. She is the reigning champion in both singles and
women's doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and in doubles at the
US Open. In total, she has won 27 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 11 in
women's doubles and 4 in mixed doubles. In addition, she has won two
Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She also has won more Grand Slam
titles than any other active female player and has won more career prize
money than any other female athlete in history.
Williams reached the top ten on the WTA world rankings for the first time
in 1999 when she won several tournaments, including her first Grand Slam
victory at the US Open at the age of 17. Between 2002 and 2003, Williams
won five of the six Grand Slam events she entered, becoming the fifth
woman in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. She
became the World Number 1 for the first time in July 2002.
Williams' domination of the sport came to an abrupt end in mid-2003 when
she had surgery to repair a partial tear in a knee tendon. Upon her return
to the sport in 2004, her results were noticeably less consistent than
previously. In early 2005, she won her first Grand Slam title in 18 months
at the Australian Open, but a string of injuries then limited her to
competing in just 13 events in the two years that followed, winning none
of them. Her standing in the world rankings suffered as a result, the
nadir being World Number 140 in July 2006, leading to widespread
speculation that she had passed her peak. Williams, however, eventually
won another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2007, despite being
ranked World Number 81 at the time. Williams returned to the top ten later
that year and has since competed in every Grand Slam event. She became the
World Number 1 for the first time in five years in September 2008. She was
named female athlete of 2009 by the Associated Press.
Williams is the younger sister of fellow former World Number 1
professional female tennis player Venus Williams. They have played each
other in 23 professional matches dating back to 1998, with Serena winning
13 of these matches as of October 2009. Their meeting in the final of the
2001 US Open was the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters in
the open era. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals,
with Serena winning six of those. Between the 2002 French Open and the
2003 Australian Open, they met in all four Grand Slam finals, the first
time in the Open era that the same two players had contested four
consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair regularly team to play doubles and
have won 11 Grand Slam titles together.
Williams won her fifth Australian Open title at the 2010 Australian Open,
an Open era record, and in doing so won her 12th career Grand Slam singles
title, tying her with Billie Jean King and Suzanne Lenglen for sixth on
the all-time list.
Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene
Price. She is of African American heritage and is one of five sisters:
Lyndrea, Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Isha, and Venus. Her mother
raised Williams and her other daughters as members of the Jehovah's
Witnesses religious group. When the children were young, the family moved
to the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where Williams started playing
tennis at the age of four. Her father home-schooled Williams and her
sister Venus. To this end, Williams was and remains coached by both her
parents.
Williams' family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach when she was nine
so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would
provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the
sisters. He did not always agree with Williams' father but respected that
"he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls".
Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis
tournaments when Williams was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and
focus on school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly
heard parents of white players talk about the Williams sisters in a
derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 463
record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked
No. 1 among under 10 players in Florida. In 1995, Richard pulled his
daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching
at their home. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path
of playing regularly on the junior circuit would have been beneficial,
Williams responded: "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and
I, we just tried a different road, and it worked for us."
Williams is primarily a baseline player. Her game is built around taking
immediate control of rallies with a powerful and consistent serve
(considered by some to be the best in the women's game), return of serve,
and forceful groundstrokes from both her forehand and backhand swings. Her
serve is technically very sound and has been hit as hard as 129 mph (206,5
km/h), the second-fastest (after her sister Venus) all-time among female
players.
Williams' solid volleysespecially her drive volleys and powerful
overheadsgive her advantages at the net. She produces good drop volleys,
a shot that not many players use.
Although Williams' forehand is among the most powerful shots in the
women's game, her double-handed backhand is considered to be one of, if
not the, best on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Williams can
hit a winning backhand shot, from any position on the court, down the line
or cross court, even when on the defensive or otherwise under pressure.
Williams strikes her backhand groundstroke using an open stance, and uses
the same open stance for her forehand.
Williams' aggressive style of play results in a relatively high number of
unforced errors. This 'high risk' style is balanced in part by her serve,
which combines great power and placement with very high consistency.
Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player, she also
plays a strong defensive game.
Williams started playing professional tennis in September 1995. Her first
professional event was the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, where she was
defeated in less than an hour of play and earned only US$240 in prize
money.
Williams did not play any tournaments in 1996. In 1997, she played at
several tournaments but failed to win a main-draw match until October at
the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked World No. 304, she upset both former
World No. 1 Monica Seles and Mary Pierce, 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. She ultimately lost in
the semifinals to Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked World No.
99.
Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier,
ranked World No. 96, she defeated World No. 3 Davenport in the
quarterfinals, before losing to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semifinals.
Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam at the Australian
Open, where she defeated sixth seed Irina Spirlea in the first round
before losing to sister Venus in the second round, in the sisters' first
professional match.
Williams reached six other quarterfinals during the year but lost all of
them, including her first match against World No. 1 Martina Hingis at the
Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and her second match against Venus at the
Italian Open in Rome. She failed to make a major impact at any of the
season's Grand Slam tournaments, losing in the fourth round of the French
Open to Sanchez-Vicario and the third round of both Wimbledon and the US
Open, to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Spirlea. She did, however, win the
mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi,
completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand
Slams. Williams won her first professional title in doubles in Oklahoma
City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win such a WTA
title. The Williams sisters went on to win two further doubles titles
together during the season. Serena finished the season ranked World No. 20
in singles.
Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine
Testud. However, she rebounded in February when she defeated Australian
Open runner-up Amιlie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France in
Paris to win her first professional singles title. With Venus also winning
a tournament on that day, the pair became the first sisters to win
professional tournaments in the same week. A month later, Serena won the
prestigious Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, her first Tier I title,
having defeated World No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and World No. 8 Mary Pierce
in early rounds, before defeating 22-times Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf
in the final, after coming back from a break down in the deciding set. At
the following tournament, the Lipton Championships in Miami, Williams
defeated World No. 1 Martina Hingis for the first time in the semifinals,
before losing to Venus in the first all-sister singles final in WTA
history. In April, Serena entered the top ten on the rankings for the
first time.
Williams lost in the third round of the French Open to Mary Joe Fernandez,
although she did team up with Venus to win the doubles title at the event,
their first Grand Slam doubles title with each other. Serena missed
Wimbledon because of injury, but she started the summer hard court season
strongly by winning her third title of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open
in Los Angeles. There, she defeated World No. 1 Hingis in the semifinals
before defeating Julie Halard-Decugis in the final.
Williams was the seventh-seeded player at the 1999 US Open, where she made
the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career, having been a game away
from defeat in the third round against future champion Kim Clijsters
before defeating former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez in the fourth
round. In the quarterfinals, Williams defeated fourth seed and former
champion Monica Seles before defeating second seed and defending champion
Davenport in the semifinals. In the final, Williams defeated top seed
Hingis 63, 76(4) to win the first Grand Slam title of her career.
Williams was the second African-American woman (after Althea Gibson in
1958) to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. Williams also teamed up with
Venus to win the women's doubles title at the event, their second Grand
Slam title with each other.
Williams' fifth tournament victory of the season was at the Grand Slam Cup
in Munich, where she defeated Davenport in the semifinals, before
defeating Venus for the first time in the final. Serena ended the year
ranked at No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour. She also
contributed to the United States' victory over Russia in the final of the
1999 Fed Cup, winning her singles rubber before teaming with Venus to win
the doubles rubber.
Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open
to 16th seed Elena Likhovtseva. She failed to defend either of her titles
in Paris or in Indian Wells, losing to Nathalie Tauziat in the final of
the former and to Pierce in the quarterfinals of the latter, although she
did win the Faber Grand Prix in Hanover, defeating Denisa Chladkova in the
final.
Williams missed the French Open due to injury. She returned at Wimbledon,
where she lost just 13 games in advancing to the second Grand Slam
semifinal of her career. However, there, she was beaten by eventual
champion Venus. The Williams sisters teamed up to win the doubles title at
the event. Williams went on to defend her title in Los Angeles in August,
defeating World No. 1 Hingis in the semifinals and World No. 2 Davenport
in the final. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open in Montreal,
Canada the following week, but was forced to retire due to injury against
Hingis. Her defense of the US Open title came to a disappointing end when
she lost in the quarterfinals to second seed Davenport.
Williams teamed up with Venus to win the gold medal for doubles at the
Sydney Olympics in September. She went on to win her third singles title
of the year the following week at the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo,
defeating Halard-Decugis in the final. She finished the season as World
No. 6.
Williams started 2001 by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian
Open, but lost there to top seed Hingis 62, 36, 86. However, Williams
teamed up with Venus Williams to win the women's doubles title at the
event, completing a Career Grand Slam in women's doubles for the pair. She
then did not play again until March. She returned in Indian Wells, where
she defeated World No. 2 Davenport 62, 61 in the quarterfinals. She was
due to play Venus in the semifinals; however, Venus withdrew an hour
before the anticipated start of the match, citing an injury. This fuelled
speculation that matches between the Williams sisters were fixed. Williams
defeated Kim Clijsters in the final to win the title for a second time,
but was booed throughout the final, allegedly due to racial hostilities.
Both Williams sisters have boycotted the tournament since.
In May, Williams reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the
first time, but lost there in three sets to eventual champion Jennifer
Capriati. At Wimbledon, Williams again lost in the quarterfinals to
Capriati, marking the fourth consecutive Grand Slam at which Williams had
exited in the quarterfinals. Williams rebounded in the summer hardcourt
season, winning the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Seles in the
semifinals and Capriati in the final. As the tenth seed at the US Open,
Williams defeated Wimbledon runner-up Justine Henin, third seed Davenport
and top seed Hingis 63, 62 in order to reach the final for the second
time in her career. There, she played Venus in the first Grand Slam final
contested by two sisters in the open era. Venus won the match 62, 64.
Williams did not play again until the year-ending Sanex Championships in
Munich in November. Playing at the tournament for the first time, she
reached the final, winning the title by default when Davenport withdrew
due to a knee injury. Williams finished the season as World No. 6 having
won three titles.
Williams was forced to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open due to
injury, but won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's
Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, USA, defeating Martina Hingis in the
semifinals and Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Tier I
Ericsson Open in Miami for the first time, becoming the second player in
the open era to defeat the world's top three at one tournament, after
beating World No. 3 Hingis in the quarterfinals, World No. 2 and sister
Venus in the semifinals and World No. 1 Capriati in the final. Her 62,
62 win over Venus was only the second win over her sister in her career.
Williams reached the final at a clay court event for the first time in
May, at the Eurocard German Open in Berlin, losing to Justine Henin. The
following week, Williams won her first clay title at the Internazionali
BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in
the final. This increased her ranking to a new high of World No. 3.
Williams, as the third seed at the 2002 French Open, dropped just two sets
en route to the final (including a victory over top seed and defending
champion Capriati in the semifinals), where she defeated sister Venus 75,
63. This gave Serena the second Grand Slam title of her career and
increased her ranking to World No. 2, behind only Venus.
At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams defeated Amelie Mauresmo
62, 61 in the semifinals to make the final for the first time. There,
she again defeated defending champion Venus 76(4), 63 to win a Grand
Slam title without dropping a set for the first time. This victory earned
Williams the World No. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and succeeding her
as the second African-American woman to hold the top ranking on the WTA).
The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the
fifth Grand Slam title for the pair in women's doubles.
Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open,
losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to
Chanda Rubin, ending a 21-match winning streak. Despite that, she went
into the US Open as a strong favorite for the title. She defeated former
champion Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals of the tournament to make the
final for the third time. Playing Venus for the third consecutive Grand
Slam final, Williams won once again, 64, 63, to win her second US Open
title and fourth Grand Slam singles title.
Williams won back-to-back titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to
win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo and defeating Anastasia Myskina in
the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the
year-ending Home Depot Championships, but lost surprisingly to 19-year-old
Clijsters in straight sets, ending a 18-match winning streak. Williams
finished 2002 with a 565 record, eight singles titles, and the World No.
1 ranking, becoming the first African-American (male or female) to end a
year ranked Number 1 in the world. She was the first woman to win three
Grand Slam titles in one season since Hingis in 1997.
At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams was just three points away from
losing to Emilie Loit in the first round, before eventually winning.
Williams went on to make the semifinals for the first time, where she
saved two match points in defeating Clijsters. She faced her sister Venus
for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won 76(4), 36, 64 to
become the first African-American to win the title and the fifth woman to
hold all Grand Slam titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly,
Margaret Court, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. As the titles were
not held within a single calendar year, they are not considered as a
"Grand Slam", with Williams instead dubbing the achievement the "Serena
Slam". The Williams sisters won the doubles title, their sixth Grand Slam
doubles title together.
Williams captured titles at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, defeating
Mauresmo in the final, as well as her second consecutive victory in Miami,
defeating Clijsters in the semifinals and Capriati in the final. Williams
went on to make the final at the clay-court Family Circle Cup in
Charleston, USA, but lost there to Henin, her first loss of the year after
21 wins. Despite that, Williams went into the French Open strongly tipped
to win her fifth consecutive Grand Slam title. However, after defeating
fifth seed Mauresmo 61, 62 in the quarterfinals, Williams lost in the
semifinals to eventual champion Henin 62, 46, 75, marking Williams'
first loss in a Grand Slam since 2001. The match was controversial as
Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship and spectators applauded
Williams' errors.
Williams rebounded from the loss at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships,
defeating Henin 63, 62 in the semifinals and Venus 46, 64, 62 in the
final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her
sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. This would prove to be her last
tournament of the year, as knee surgery prevented her from competing in
any other events that year, including the US Open. As a result of her
absence, she lost the World No. 1 ranking to Clijsters in August, having
held it for 57 consecutive weeks. Williams finished the season ranked
World No. 3 and with four titles.
On September 14, while Williams was still recovering from surgery, her
sister Yetunde Price was murdered. Yetunde was said to be very close to
both Williams and Venus and her death is often cited as a reason for the
Williams sisters' erratic form in the years that followed.
Williams did not play at the 2004 Australian Open as she continued to
recover from her knee injury. She then withdrew from further tournaments,
which generated speculation that she was losing interest in the sport.
Williams finally returned at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami in late March,
where she defeated the rising Maria Sharapova en route to the final, where
she defeated Elena Dementieva to win the title for the third consecutive
year.
However, suggestions that Williams was about to resume her dominance of
the sport were premature; she failed to win any of her first three
clay-court events of the year. She then lost in the French Open
quarterfinals to Jennifer Capriati, Williams' earliest loss at a Grand
Slam since 2001. She rebounded at Wimbledon, where she defeated Capriati
61, 61 in the quarterfinals and then came back from a set and a break
down to win in the semifinals against Amelie Mauresmo to make the final
for the third consecutive year. However, there, she was upset by the
17-year old Sharapova 61, 64. Williams' failure to defend her Wimbledon
title resulted in her losing her place in the world's top 10 for the first
time since early 1999.
Williams reached her third final of the year at the beginning of the
summer hardcourt season at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, but
then she lost to Lindsay Davenport 61, 63, her first loss to Davenport
since 2000. Williams was then forced to withdraw from the Athens Olympics
due to a knee injury. She returned for the US Open, but lost a
quarterfinal match with Capriati in which there were several missed calls,
including an egregious call which led to the suspension of the chair
umpire for the remainder of the tournament; this match is commonly
referred to as the impetus for the current challenge system.
Williams won her second title of the year at the China Open in Beijing, in
which she defeated US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.
Williams qualified for the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, where she defeated
Mauresmo in the semifinals but again lost to Sharapova in the final 46,
62, 64, having led 40 in the third set before suffering an abdominal
injury which resulted in her serving balls below 90 mph. Williams finished
2004 ranked No. 7, and had not won a Grand Slam for the first year since
2001.
At the 2005 Australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and
sister Venus were a declining force in tennis following Venus's early exit
at the tournament. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, Williams
defeated second seed Mauresmo 62, 62. In the semifinals, she saved three
match points in defeating fourth seed Sharapova 26, 75, 86. In the
final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport 26, 63, 60 to win her
second Australian Open title and seventh Grand Slam singles title. The win
moved Williams back to World No. 2, and she stated she was now targeting
the number one spot.
However, Williams failed to reach the final at any of the other
tournaments during the spring hardcourt season, a period that included a
loss to sister Venus in the quarterfinals of Miami in March the first
time since 2001 that she had either lost to Venus or lost in Miami. She
withdrew from the French Open due to an ankle injury. She returned for
Wimbledon, but, after struggling through her first two matches in three
sets, she was defeated in the third round by Jill Craybas (ranked World
No. 85).
As the eighth seed at the 2005 US Open, Williams appeared to be showing
improved form by winning her first three matches without dropping a set;
however, she then lost to Venus in the fourth round. Serena played just
one more match the remainder of the year, a loss to World No. 127 Sun
Tiantian in Beijing, and failed to qualify for the year-end championship
for the first time since 1998. She finished the season as World No. 11,
her first time finishing outside of the world top 10 since 1998.
The following year, as defending champion at the 2006 Australian Open,
Williams lost to 17th seed Daniela Hantuchovα in the third round. Williams
did not play any other tournaments for six months, causing her to fall
outside of the top 100 on the rankings for the first time since 1997. Her
string of withdrawals led to speculation that she was on the verge of
retirement, which she denied. The official reason given for this lengthy
absence was to nurse a chronic knee injury, although Williams later
admitted she was in need of a mental break.
Williams returned in July at the W&S Financial Group Women's Open, where
she defeated World No. 11 Anastasia Myskina 62, 62 in the first round
before ultimately losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva. She also
reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Jelena Jankovic. At the
2006 US Open, Williams was unseeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the
first time since 1998, having needed to accept a wildcard to enter due to
her ranking being so low. She defeated US Open Series champion Ana
Ivanovic in the third round, but then lost to top seed Mauresmo in the
fourth round in three sets. She did not play again in 2006, ending the
year ranked World No. 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997. Williams
had played just four tournaments during the season.
Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to
return to the top of the rankings, a comment former player and commentator
Pat Cash branded "deluded". She was not considered a favorite at the
Australian Open, unseeded because of her World No. 81 ranking and widely
regarded as "out of shape". In spite of this, in the third round of the
tournament, Williams defeated fifth seed Nadia Petrova 16, 75, 63,
having been down 53 in the second set. This marked Williams' first
victory over a player ranked in the top 10 in two years. Williams went on
to make the quarterfinals, where was again nearly defeated but eventually
prevailed over 16th seed Shahar Peer 36, 62, 86. Williams then defeated
Nicole Vaidisova in straight sets to make her first final at any tier on
the WTA Tour in two years. There, she crushed top-seeded Maria Sharapova
61, 62, winning her third Australian Open singles title and her eighth
Grand Slam singles title overall. Her performance in the final was
described as "one of the best performances of her career" and as "arguably
the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis". Williams dedicated
the victory to her deceased sister, Yetunde, whom she credited as
inspiration for her win. Her ranking rose to World No. 14 as a result of
the victory.
Williams next played at the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in late
March, where she posted another convincing victory over World No. 2
Sharapova (61, 61) in the fourth round. In the final, Williams defeated
World No. 1 Justine Henin 06, 75, 63, having saved a match point in the
second set. This was Williams' fourth Miami title. She returned to the top
10 for the first time in more than a year in May and went into the French
Open confident of success, but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual
champion Henin in straight sets. Williams was one of the favorites for the
Wimbledon title, but again lost in the quarterfinals to Henin, this time
in three sets.
Due to a thumb injury, Williams did not play again until the US Open,
where she defeated Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in the fourth round
but then lost her third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal to Henin. In
the fall, Williams reached her third final of the year, at the Tier I
Kremlin Cup in Moscow, after she defeated World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova
in the semifinals. However, she lost in the final to Elena Dementieva.
Williams' ranking rose to World No. 5, and qualified her for the 2007 WTA
Tour Championships. Her participation there was short: citing an injury,
she retired from her first round robin match with Anna Chakvetadze and
withdrew from the tournament. Serena finished 2007 as World No. 7 and the
top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.
As the defending champion at the 2008 Australian Open, Williams lost in
the quarterfinals to third seed Jelena Jankovic, her fourth consecutive
defeat in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. After taking February off due
to dental surgery, Williams returned to the tour clinching three
consecutive titles. At the Bangalore Open, Williams saved a match point in
defeating Venus in the semifinals, in her first win over her sister since
2003. She then defeated Patty Schnyder in the final. Williams then won her
fifth title in Miami, tying Steffi Graf's record, having defeated World
No. 1 Henin 62, 60 in the quarterfinals, World No. 3 Kuznetsova in the
semifinals and World No. 4 Jankovic in the final. Williams followed up
with a win at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, USA, posting her fourth
consecutive win over Sharapova in the quarterfinals before going on to
defeat Vera Zvonareva in the final to win her tenth career Tier I title
and first clay court title since the 2002 French Open.
Williams' 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the
quarterfinals of the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. As the only
former champion in the draw of the French Open following the sudden
retirement of four-times champion Henin, Williams lost surprisingly in the
third round to Katarina Srebotnik. On grass, Williams reached the final of
Wimbledon for the first time in four years, having defeated 2006 champion
Amelie Mauresmo in the third round and Chinese wild-card Zheng Jie in the
semifinals. In the final, she lost to Venus 75, 64. This was the first
Grand Slam final in which the Williams sisters had played each other since
2003. The sisters teamed up to win the women's doubles title at the event,
their first Grand Slam doubles title since 2003.
Playing in the singles draw at the Olympics for the first time in Beijing,
Williams lost in the quarterfinals to eventual gold-medalist Dementieva,
although she and Venus won the gold medal in doubles, to add to their
victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. As the fourth seed at the US Open,
Williams defeated Venus in the quarterfinals 76(6), 76(7) after saving a
total of 10 set points; sixth seed and US Open Series champion Safina in
the semifinals 63, 62; and second seed Janković in the final 64, 75.
The victory, her third US Open title and ninth Grand Slam title overall,
also returned her to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time since
2003.
However, Williams' tenure at number one lasted just four weeks, as she
lost the position after losing her first match after the US Open, a match
against Li Na at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. At
the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, after
defeating World No. 2 Safina and losing to Venus in her first two
round-robin matches, Serena withdrew from her third round-robin match
against Dementieva due to injury. She ended the year ranked World No. 2
and with four titles, her strongest performance in both respects since
2003.
Williams' first tournament of 2009 was the Medibank International Sydney,
where she suffered her third consecutive loss to Dementieva in the
semifinals 63, 61. Despite this, she was the bookmakers' favorite for
the Australian Open title. In the quarterfinals of the tournament,
Williams was two points from losing to Kuznetsova before eventually
winning 57, 75, 61. She then defeated fourth seed Dementieva in
straight sets in the semifinals. In the final, Williams defeated Safina
60, 63 in 59 minutes. As her fourth Australian Open title, she tied the
record for most victories at the event (tied with Graf, Monica Seles,
Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley, while she also became the
seventh woman to win ten Grand Slam singles titles. The win also made her
the highest earner in the history of women's sports, overtaking golfer
Annika Sφrenstam. Williams also reclaimed the World No. 1 WTA ranking with
the win. Meanwhile, partnering with Venus, Serena captured the doubles
title for the third time.
Williams lost in the semifinals of the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships to
Venus, which marked Venus' 10th win in 19 career meetings between the
pair, the first time Venus had led the sisters' head-to-head since 2002.
Serena drew level in the head-to-head again by defeating Venus in the
semifinals of Miami several weeks later, a result that ensured Serena
retained the World No. 1 ranking. In the final, bidding to become the
first person to win the tournament six times, Williams lost to Victoria
Azarenka having been hampered by a left thigh strain.
The loss to Azarenka proved to be the first of four consecutive losses
Williams suffered, losing her opening match at her first three clay-court
events of the year and providing Williams with the longest losing streak
of her career. The run also meant Williams lost the World No. 1 ranking to
Safina on April 20 and it ensured she went into the French Open without
having won a match on clay during the year. Despite that lack of
preparation, Williams reached the quarterfinals of the tournament before
losing to the eventual champion Kuznetsova 76 (4), 57, 75, which ended
her 18-match Grand Slam winning streak. She rebounded at Wimbledon, saving
a match point in defeating fourth seed Dementieva in the semifinals
67(4), 75, 86. Playing Venus in the final, Serena won 76(3), 62, to
win her third Wimbledon title and her 11th Grand Slam singles title.
Williams was now holding three of the four Grand Slam titles, but
nevertheless continued to trail Safina in the WTA rankings, a fact
Williams publicly mocked. Williams and her sister Venus teamed up to win
the women's doubles title at the event for the second consecutive year,
their ninth Grand Slam title in women's doubles.
Following Wimbledon, Williams' modest results in tournaments other than
Grand Slams continued as she failed to win any of her three warm-up
tournaments for the US Open. Despite this, she was the bookmakers'
favorite for the US Open title. However, she lost in the semifinals of
that tournament to eventual champion Kim Clijsters in extremely
controversial circumstances. When trailing 64, 65 (1530), Williams'
second serve was called a foot fault, resulting in two match points for
Clijsters. Williams gestured to the lineswoman who had made the call with
her racket and yelled what was deemed to be abusive and
physically-threatening language at her As a result of the outburst,
Williams was penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct necessitated
by a warning she had received earlier in the match for racket abuse
meaning Clijsters won the match 64, 75. The following day, Williams was
issued the maximum permissible on-site fine of $10,000 (plus $500 for
racket abuse), pending a further official investigation and possible
additional penalties. After further investigation, in late November in
2009, the Grand Slam committee fined her $175,000 instead of deciding to
suspend her from next year's US Open or other Grand Slam events. They also
placed her on a two year probation, so if Williams commits another offense
in the next two seasons at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, she
will be suspended from participating in the next US Open. However, if she
commits no offenses in the next two years, her fine will be reduced to
$82,500. Williams initially refused to apologize for her outburst, both in
her post-match press conference and in an official statement released the
following day, but she eventually did explicitly apologize to the
lineswoman in a further statement two days following the incident. In
spite of some commentators' calls, Williams was not suspended from the
doubles competition at the tournament and teamed with Venus to win their
third Grand Slam doubles title of the year and tenth of their career two
days following her outburst. Both sisters rose to a career-high of world
number three on the doubles world rankings as a result of the win.
Williams briefly reclaimed the world number one ranking from Safina in
October, before ceding it again to the Russian two weeks later. She
finished the year by competing at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships
in Doha, Qatar, winning all three of her round-robin matches against
Kuznetsova, Demnetieva and Venus Williams, saving a match point in her
match against Venus Williams before eventually winning on a third set
tiebreak. She then advanced to the final of the tournament when US Open
runner-up Caroline Wozniacki retired from their semifinal match when
trailing 64, 01. In the final, Williams played Venus Williams for the
second time in four days, winning once again, 62, 76(4), against her
tired and error stricken sister. This secured Serena's second WTA Season
Ending Championship.
Williams finished the season as world number one for the second time in
her career, having played in 16 tournaments, more than any of her previous
seasons. Along with the number one ranking, she broke the record set by
Justine Henin for the most prize money earned by a female tennis player in
one season. Williams earned $6,545,586 during the year. In doubles,
Williams finished as world number two with Venus Williams despite them
only playing six tournaments as a pair. In singles Williams finished with
a 5012 record (her most losses in a season) and a 242 record in doubles
with her sister. She won five Grand Slam championships in 2009, putting
her total Grand Slam titles at 23.
On December 21, Williams was named as Female Athlete of the Year by the
Associated Press by a landslide vote (66 of 158 votes no other candidate
received more than 18 votes). One day later, on December 22, she was
announced as the ITF World Champion in Singles and Doubles.
Williams' first scheduled tournament of 2010 was the Medibank
International in Sydney, a warm up for the Australian Open. She received a
bye into the second round, when she defeated the top Spanish player, Maria
Jose Martinez Sanchez, 61, 62. In the quarterfinal she defeated Russian
Vera Dushevina 62, 62 then in the semifinal defeated Frenchwoman Aravane
Rezaο 36, 75, 64 after trailing 63, 52 and two points from defeat.
She lost to World No. 5 and defending champion Elena Dementieva, the same
player she lost to in the semifinal the year before, 63, 62 in the
final.
At the Australian Open, Williams competed in singles as well as doubles
(with sister Venus) as the defending champion. In the first round she
defeated Poland's Urszula Radwańska 62, 61. In the second round she
defeated Czech player Petra Kvitova 62, 61. In the third round she
defeated World No. 33 Carla Suαrez Navarro of Spain 60, 63. She quickly
defeated Australian Samantha Stosur, 64, 62 in a 65-minute match in the
fourth round. She eliminated Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinal,
beating the Belarusian for the third Australian Open in a row, 46,
76(4), 62, after being a set and 04 down in the second. Up until the
quarterfinals, Williams was the only player in either the men's or women's
draw to have not had a service break; Azarenka broke Williams' serve five
times in their quarterfinal match, including the opening game of the first
set. In the semi-final Williams defeated sixteenth seeded Li Na 76(4)
76(1) on her fifth match point to reach her fifth final in Melbourne and
her fifteenth Grand Slam singles final. She beat 2004 Champion Justine
Henin in the final 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. The victory gave her at least one grand
slam singles title in three different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s), a
record matched only by Martina Navratilova among female players and Ken
Rosewall among male players. Williams is the most decorated Australian
Open champion with five titles (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010) following
the previous record of four championships held by her together with
Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, and Monica Seles. The win
also equaled the overall grand slam singles titles of Billie Jean King
with 12 slams overall, which is tied sixth overall behind Court (24), Graf
(22), Moody (19), Evert and Navratilova (18) in the combined era totals.
This puts Williams' total during the Open era at number four, behind Graf
with 22 titles and Evert and Navratilova with 18 titles. Williams became
the first female player to win back-to-back Australian Open titles since
Jennifer Capriati in 2001-02.
In doubles, she teamed up with her sister Venus. They easily dominated
Sophie Ferguson and Jessica Moore, winning 61, 61 in the first round. In
the second round, they defeated Loana Raluca Olaru and Olga Savchuk 61,
62. In the third round, they beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka
63, 62. In the quarterfinal, they won a tight three-setter against
American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and China's Zi Yan 64, 46, 64. In the
doubles semi-final the sisters defeated Lisa Raymond and Australian Rennae
Stubbs in straight sets 63, 76 to advance to the Australian Open doubles
final for the second consecutive year and the fourth of their careers.
They defended their title, defeating world Number 1 in doubles Cara Black
and Liezel Huber in a straight sets victory, 6-4, 6-3. The Williams
sisters are undefeated in grand slam doubles finals and are 40 Australian
Open doubles titles.
She withdrew form the 2010 Open GDF Suez in France and the 2010 Dubai
Tennis Championships due to a leg injury, and is due to play the Sony
Ericsson Open in Miami.
Williams has played her sister Venus 12 times in Grand Slam singles
tournaments and 11 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals). She
has a three match lead in the head-to-head series, 1310 (including the
last 4 in a row). They are the only women during the open era to have
played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals. |
