The current world number one, winner of the US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open and French Open — her list of achievements is simply stunning. She has just won the Australian Open by defeating Justine Henin. Yes, I am talking about the shinning star of tennis, Serena Williams. Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, USA in 1981. She showed her interest in tennis at an early age and at 10, she had a 46-3 record in the United States Tennis Association junior tour. She was also ranked as no 1 player in the under 10 team.
In 1999, at the age of 17, she got her first Grand Slam victory at the US Open. She became World No. 1 in July 2002 for the first time.
Over the series of her illustrious career, Serena Williams has won 57 titles in which Serena has won a total of 23 career Grand Slams which include 11 singles titles, 2 mixed doubles and 10 in women's double to become one the game's greatest all-time players. In doubles, she has won the Wimbledon four times, US Open two times, French Open once and Australian Open five times. Serena has also two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles.
In 2002-2003, she enjoyed her best years as a professional when she won five Grand Slam titles in the same year. She took a break from tennis in 2003 when she had to undergo a knee surgery. She appeared on the tennis court again in 2004 but was unable to perform like before. As a result, her rankings went down to no 140 in July 2006. That was a tough time for Serena as well as for her fans, but she made a comeback with a great victory and won Australian Open in 2007. That year, she moved up to be among the top 10 players in tennis and became World No. 1 again in September 2008.
Apart from playing tennis, Serena has her own clothing brand called “Aneres”, which is actually her name spelled in reverse order. She has also appeared on different television shows and has lent her voice for animated programmes too.
Serena is deeply committed to philanthropic causes with education being one of her main focuses. Through her charity foundation, Williams gives grants to African-American students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend colleges, or technical schools in the US. She also opened a secondary school in Senegal last year and plans to open a second in Kenya in March.
At 28, Serena is still going strong and is all set to make 2010 a year filled with yet more achievements.
