Serena Williams

Net Worth

$210,000,000

Born in (City)

Saginaw

Born in (Country)

Date of Birth

26th December, 2019

Date of Death

Mother

Oracene Price

Father

Richard Williams

Children

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr

About

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player and former world No. 1 in women's single tennis. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court . The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. She reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time on July 8, 2002. On her sixth occasion, she held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf. In total, she has been No. 1 for 319 weeks, which ranks third in the Open Era among female players behind Graf and Martina Navratilova. Williams is widely regarded to be one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. She holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her 39 Grand Slam titles put her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15) and the third player to achieve this twice, after Rod Laver and Graf.

Early Life

Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Oracene Price and Richard Williams, and is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea, and Isha Price, and full older sister Venus. She also has at least seven paternal half-siblings. When the children were young, the family moved to Compton, California, where Williams started playing tennis at the age of four. Her father home schooled Serena and her sister, Venus. While he and subsequently her mother have been the official coaches, other mentors who helped her learn the game included Richard Williams, a Compton man who shared her father's name and would go on to found The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis/Tutorial Academy. When Williams was nine, she and her family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach, Florida, so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci; Macci began to provide additional coaching. Macci did not always agree with Williams's 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 go slowly and to focus on school work. Experiences of racism also drove this experience, as Richard Williams had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father 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 attempted a different road, and it worked for us."

Road to Success

Serena Williams was not born into a world of respect and fame. Like many other black females, Serena faced hardships all throughout her life. For example, during the women’s U.S open in 2018, many Serena Williams fans were outraged because Serena lost a game on multiple accounts that were wrongfully put against her. Of course, like any male or female player, Serena showed that she was angry by throwing her racket on the ground. Soon after the game was aired on national television, there was a cartoon put out that portrayed Serena as a fat, angry black woman, who was stomping on her tiny racket. In the background of the picture, the referee was looking down and pleading to Serena’s white opponent for her to let Serena win the game. This is not only disrespectful, demeaning, outrageous and many more adjectives, this was sexist and racist. Imagine if a white man got mad and threw his tennis ratchet on the ground, do you think that somebody would feel the need to draw a disrespectful cartoon about it? Do you think that it would cost him winning the game? In fact, do you even think that he would be throwing the racket for the same reason? The answer to all of those questions is no. Why? Because the world is made of stereotypes and laws that mean that a white man will never have to face the hardships that a black man, a white woman or a black woman will ever have to face. But when we think about it, that is what makes Serena Williams the woman we know and love. That is what makes her the woman that people like you aspire to be. This is not the only example of sexist and racist acts that were directed as Serena. Back in 2017, on the first of September, Serena had her first baby, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Serena has had multiple surgeries and complications before so she knew what they felt like. After having her baby, Serena complained of having trouble breathing, and a pain in her chest. The doctors didn’t listen and told her that she would be fine. As the symptoms started getting worse, Serena finally insisted and she was scanned for any complications. If she had not done that she probably would have died because it turned out that she was right and had a blood clot in her lungs. This story was huge because it highlighted the problem that black women in this country face when it comes to getting medical attention. Even at her level and fame, Serena had to demand that she get correct medical attention because nobody was listening to her. This is definitely an example of sexism and racism because it shows how any black woman can be treated in these situations.

Challenges

Being one of the greatest athletes in the history of professional sports comes with a tremendous degree of privilege. But at the end of the day, Serena Williams is a Black woman first. And as she explained during a recent sit down on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she hasn’t always felt like herself on the tennis court despite her accolades. “In tennis—which is a sport that no one really looks like me, at least in the beginning—you can’t really express yourself or it’s seen as bad,” she said. “Or you might say something, and you could never even use profanity at all, and they’ll take a game from you, which is crazy.” Since arriving on the scene at 13 years old at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has endured more than her fair share of blatant mistreatment and racist onslaughts. But in being a trailblazer within the sport, she’s also acutely aware that being branded as an “angry Black woman” could adversely affect other Black women and women of color who continue to follow in her footsteps. “There’s a double standard in everything that we do,” she said. “And that’s just the society that we happen to live in and it takes generations to change.” Despite these challenges, the 39-year-old is humbled by how the next generation of tennis stars has drawn inspiration from her accomplishments on the court.

Failures

Serena Williams overcame potential stumbling blocks in each of her Grand Slam title runs this season. A month from now, at the U.S. Open, Williams must clear a few more hurdles in the final leg of her quest for a calendar Grand Slam. It won't be easy. As she told the Guardian, after winning Wimbledon, "Like I always say, there's 127 other people that don't want to see me win. Nothing personal, they just want to win...I had a really tough draw (at Wimbledon). This gives me confidence that if I had this draw, I can do it again." At the Australian Open, Williams battled a persistent cough. She also withstood a tough match against Garbine Muguruza. The French Open saw her in a testy fourth-round three-setter against Azarenka. Williams also played through flu-like symptoms. Williams withdrew from the Swedish Open before her second-round match due to a right elbow injury she suffered in practice. The move was reportedly precautionary to avoid a more serious injury. If the elbow injury was brought on by overuse, some rest and relaxation should be sufficient for Williams. However, if there is a deeper issue, the right elbow could cause problems with her serve—her best weapon. Williams also withdrew from Rome with a right elbow issue, with the French Open just days away.

Achievements

She has won 39 Grand Slam titles: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles.|Along with sister Venus, she won a record 3 doubles gold in the Olympics as a team.|In 2013, she became the oldest no. 1 player at the age of 31 years and 4 months.|She holds the record of winning the most women's singles matches at the Grand Slams.

Quotes

Growing up I wasn’t the richest, but I had a rich family in spirit. Standing here with 19 championships is something I never thought would happen. I went on a court just with a ball and a racket and with a hope.
Think of all the girls who could become top athletes but quit sports because they’re afraid of having too many defined muscles and being made fun of or called unattractive.
I decided I can’t pay a person to rewind time, so I may as well get over it.