Powered by the best serve in the women’s game, Serena Williams is currently sixth on the all-time Grand Slam singles titles list with 14, the most of any active woman. Having learned to play tennis on public courts in Compton, Calif., alongside her older sister Venus, Serena became the first Williams sister to win a major singles title in 1999, when at age 17 she defeated No. 1 Martina Hingis in the U.S. Open final. Williams made it back to the U.S. Open final in 2001, losing to Venus in straight sets. From 2002 through 2003 she won four consecutive Grand Slam singles titles (2002 French Open, 2002 Wimbledon, 2002 U.S. Open, 2003 Australian Open), a feat that was dubbed the “Serena Slam.” Williams is the fifth woman, behind Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, to hold all four major titles simultaneously. Serena defeated her sister in the finals of the four majors that comprised that run. With the victory in Melbourne in 2003, Serena became the ninth woman in history to achieve the career Grand Slam. She held the No. 1 ranking for 57 consecutive weeks from 2002 to 2003. She added a second career Wimbledon title in 2003, but then won just two majors (2005 and 2007 Australian Opens) in the five-year span that followed. In 2008, a resurgent Serena won her third career U.S. Open title and regained the No. 1 ranking for four weeks. She regained the No. 1 ranking twice in 2009, during which time she won the Australian Open for the fourth time and Wimbledon for the third time. She has a career record of 14-4 in Grand Slam singles finals. She also dominated the 2009 season-ending tour championship in Doha, winning that event for the second time in her career and the first since 2001. She has twice finished the season with the No. 1 ranking (2002, 2009). In 2010, Serena collected her 12th and 13th Grand Slam singles titles, beating Justine Henin in the Australian Open final to become the first woman in the Open Era to win five Australian Open titles, and defeating Vera Zvonareva to capture Wimbledon. On July 7, 2010, Williams stepped on broken glass in a Munich restaurant and cut her foot. The injury required 18 stitches, but complications arose. Williams eventually underwent surgery on her right foot. She suffered a hematoma and a pulmonary embolism and missed the first half of the 2011 season. She returned to action in June, posted an 18-1 record during the U.S. Open Series, winning titles in Stanford and Toronto. She defeated No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki en route to her 17th Grand Slam singles final at the U.S. Open where she lost to Samantha Stosur. Serena did not play another WTA match in 2011. Williams collected her 40th career title on the clay of Charleston in April, 2012, surrendering just four games in her final three tournament wins. The ninth-ranked Serena swept No. 2 Maria Sharapova and No. 1 Victoria Azarenka to win the Madrid title and raise her 2012 clay-court record to 13-0. Serena defeated 2011 Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska in the final to claim her 14th career major at the 2012 Wimbledon. She blasted a Wimbledon record 102 aces in the tournament, breaking the record of 89 she set in 2010. Serena, who also won the doubles title with sister Venus, became the first 30-year-old Wimbledon champion since Martina Navratilova in 1990. The week after Wimbledon, Serena successfully defended her Stanford title, tying Venus with her 43rd career championship. Serena has won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles (Australian Open in 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010; French Open in 1999 and 2010; Wimbledon in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012; U.S. Open in 1999, 2009) and two Olympic gold medals in doubles (2000, 2008) with sister Venus. Williams is the daughter of Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Her older half-sister, Yetunde, with whom Serena and Venus were extremely close, was shot to death in Compton in 2003. Serena described that ordeal in her 2009 autobiography On The Line. A pop culture icon with an interest in fashion, Serena runs a line of designer apparel called “Aneres” (her first name spelled backwards). Williams was fined $10,500 for her profane tirade against the line judge who called her for a foot fault during her 2009 U.S. Open semifinal match, which she lost to Kim Clijsters. Williams has won more than $34.7  million in career prize money, the most of any female athlete in any sport in history.

Serena Williams Tournament History

Singles Titles

2012: Charleston, Madrid, Wimbledon, Stanford
2011: Toronto, Stanford
2010: Australian Open, Wimbledon
2009: Australian Open, Wimbledon, WTA Championships
2008: Bangalore, Miami, Charleston, US Open
2007: Australian Open, Miami
2005: Australian Open
2004: Miami, Beijing
2003: Australian Open, Paris, Miami, Wimbledon
2002: Scottsdale, Miami, Rome, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open, Tokyo, Leipzig
2001: Indian Wells, Toronto, WTA Championships
2000: Hannover, Los Angeles, Tokyo
1999: Paris, Indian Wells, Los Angeles, US Open, Grand Slam Cup

Doubles Titles

2012: Wimbledon
2010: Australian Open, Madrid, Roland Garros
2009: Australian Open, Wimbledon, Stanford, US Open
2008: Wimbledon, Olympics
2003: Australian Open
2002: Wimbledon, Leipzig
2001: Australian Open
2000: Wimbledon, Olympics
1999: Hannover, Roland Garros, US Open
1998: Oklahoma City, Zürich