Serena Jameka Williams was born September 26, 1981. She is 27 years old now. Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player.
photo by paddynapper (c) from flickr
She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions; as of April 20, 2009 she is ranked World No. 2. She is the reigning US Open and Australian Open singles champion and has won twenty Grand Slam titles: ten in singles, eight in doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. She is also the only active player, and the only player since Steffi Graf to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career (1 French Open, 2 Wimbledon, 4 Australian and 3 US Opens). She also has won more Grand Slams than any active player. Additionally, Williams has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history. In 2005, Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player in 40 years.
Serena is the younger sister of former World No. 1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams; the sisters have played each other in 20 professional matches dating back to 1998, with matches played between them tied at 10–10 as of 2009. They are the only women during the open era to have played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals.
Williams' off-court interests include fashion, acting, and charity.
photo by paddynapper (c) from flickr
From 2004 to 2005, Williams dated Brett Ratner. She was linked in 2007 to Miami Heat Forward Udonis Haslem and actor Jackie Long and in 2008 to rapper Common. She resides at Ballen Isles in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Williams is known for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. In 2002, there was much talk when she wore a black lycra catsuit at the US Open. At the 2004 US Open, Williams wore denim skirts and knee-high boots—tournament officials, however, did not allow her to wear the boots during matches. At Wimbledon in 2008, the white trench coat she wore during warm-up for her opening match was the subject of much discussion since it was worn despite the sunny weather. Off-court, Williams has also presented new designs. In November 2004, at the London premiere of After the Sunset she wore a red gown that had a near-topless effect.
picture of Serena Williams by burntfilm (c) from flickr
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 127 mph (203 kph), third fastest all-time.
image by sufw (c) from flickrWilliams' solid volleys especially her drive volleys and powerful overheads give her advantages over 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 backhand is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Williams can hit a winning backhand shot in any position or place 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 is generally more consistently explosive.
Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player, she also plays a strong defensive game. She is quick around the court, and her core strength enables her to hit the ball efficiently from difficult positions. Williams has more variety in her game than the typical offensive baseline player. Although she normally dictates play from the baseline with heavy strokes, she occasionally slices her backhand or hits heavy topspin groundstrokes or drop shots to change the pace of the ball.
Partnering with Mardy Fish, Williams began 2008 by winning Hopman Cup exhibition tournament, but as the defending champion at the Australian Open lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Janković. After taking February off, she returned to the tour clinching three consecutive titles. At the Bangalore Open Serena defeated Venus in the semifinals in the first match played between the sisters since the 2005 US Open and defeated Patty Schnyder in the final. Williams won her fifth career Sony Ericsson Open, tying Steffi Graf, and followed with a win at the Family Circle Cup, her tenth career Tier I title and first clay court title since the 2002 French Open. Serena's 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Telecom German Open. As the only former winner in the tournament, Williams lost in the third round of the 2008 French Open to Katarina Srebotnik. On grass, Serena reached the final of Wimbledon for the first time in four years but lost to Venus in straight sets. The Williamses teamed up to win the women's doubles title, defeating Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the final.
At the Bank of the West Classic, Williams retired during her semifinal match because of a left knee injury. She did not play again until the Beijing Olympics, when she lost in the singles tournament to eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva but won the gold medal in doubles, partnering with Venus to defeat Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final. At the US Open, Williams defeated Jelena Janković in the final; the victory, her ninth career Grand Slam, also returned her to the top of the WTA rankings. Despite losing early in both the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, Serena ended the year ranked World No. 2.
Williams started 2009 by withdrawing from the Hopman Cup due to a harmstring injury. Her first tournament was the Medibank International Sydney where she lost to Elena Dementieva in the semifinal. She reached a series of milestones at the Australian Open where she defeated Dinara Safina in the final to win her tenth Grand Slam singles title, ranking her seventh on the list of most Grand Slam singles titles among female players; the win also moved her to the top of both the rankings and the list of career prize money leaders in women's sports. Partnering with Venus, Serena also captured the doubles title for the third time, defeating Daniela Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama in the final. Williams' next tournament was the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris where she withdrew from her semifinal match against Elena Dementieva due to a leg injury. She lost in the semifinals of the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships to her sister Venus. Hampered by a left thigh strain Williams lost consecutive matches, in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open to Victoria Azarenka and the first round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience to Klára Zakopalová. She withdrew from Family Circle Cup in Charleston due to the same injury and as a result lost her No. 1 ranking to Dinara Safina. Williams lost her first match of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome to Patty Schnyder. She then competed at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, but retired in her first-round match against Francesca Schiavone due to a right-knee injury. Williams said that her decision to play in Madrid despite her injury was affected by the WTA Tour policy of heavily fining top players who skip certain tournaments. She said: "I don't know about anyone else but $75,000 is a lot of money to me." It was the first time in her career where she had lost four consecutive matches.
At the 2009 French Open, she entered as second seed in singles and the fith seed in doubles partnering with sister Venus. Serena struggled somewhat in her first match, winning in three sets, but won her second-round match in straight sets. In the third round, she defeated Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in a match marked by Williams' accusation that Sanchez had cheated at a crucial point. bio info (c) wikipedia.org
