Tied for 12th on the all-time Grand Slam singles titles list with seven, Venus Williams has won the Venus Rosewater dish at Wimbledon five times (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008) and the U.S. Open twice (2000, 2001). She won the 2000 Olympic gold medal in singles. She has a 7-7 career record in Grand Slam singles finals, with six of the seven losses coming against her younger sister Serena. Venus started the 2012 season with 43 singles and 19 doubles titles to her credit. Venus held the No. 1 ranking for a total of 11 weeks in 2002. She has won the season-ending tour championship once, in 2008. Having learned to play tennis on public courts in Compton, Calif., alongside her younger sister Serena, Venus became the first Williams sister to appear in a major singles final in 1997, when at age 17 she lost to No. 1 Martina Hingis in the U.S. Open final. Venus has won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles (Australian Open in 2001, 2003, 2009 and 2010; French Open in 1999 and 2010; Wimbledon in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009; U.S. Open in 1999, 2009) and two Olympic gold medals in doubles (2000, 2008) with sister Serena. Venus posted a 15-match winning streak, won two titles and reached the U.S. Open semifinals to finish the 2010 season ranked No. 5 — her sixth Top 5 finish. She retired from the 2011 Australian Open third round with a right hip injury. It was her first retirement in 251 Grand Slam matches and marked the start of an injury and illness-plagued 2011 season. Williams was later diagnosed with Sjögren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint swelling. The illness limited her to 11 matches in 2011 as she finished outside the Top 100 for the first time in 15 years. Venus and Serena won their fifth Wimbledon doubles title together in July 2012. The sisters captured their record third Olympic gold medal in doubles at the 2012 London Games. Williams is the daughter of Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Her older half-sister, Yetunde, with whom Venus and Serena were extremely close, was shot to death in Compton in 2003. An outspoken proponent of equal prize money for women and equal treatment for all players, Venus was recognized by the Anti-Defamation League for speaking out against Israeli player Shahar Peer’s exclusion from the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships (the United Arab Emirates denied Peer a visa). Venus designed EleVen, a fashion line which launched in 2007. With more than $27 million in winnings, she is second only to her sister Serena on the women’s career prize money list.

Venus Williams Tournament History

Singles Titles

2010: Dubai, Acapulco
2009: Dubai, Acapulco
2008: Wimbledon, Zürich, WTA Championships
2007: Memphis, Wimbledon, Seoul
2005: Istanbul, Wimbledon
2004: Charleston, Warsaw
2003: Antwerp
2002: Gold Coast, Paris, Antwerp, Amelia Island, Stanford, San Diego, New Haven
2001: Miami, Hamburg, Wimbledon, San Diego, New Haven, US Open
2000: Wimbledon, Stanford, San Diego, New Haven, US Open, Olympics
1999: Oklahoma City, Miami, Hamburg, Rome, New Haven, Zürich
1998: Oklahoma City, Miami, Grand Slam Cup

Doubles Titles

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