Serena Williams

Serena Williams (born 1981) is an American former professional tennis player who won twenty-three Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any woman in the Open Era. Raised in Compton, California, she and her sister Venus were coached from early childhood by their father, Richard Williams, on public courts. Her turning point came at seventeen, when she won the 1999 US Open, becoming the first African American woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a major singles title. Combining powerful serving with determination, she held the world No. 1 ranking for 319 weeks and won the 2017 Australian Open while expecting her first child. With Venus she won fourteen Grand Slam doubles titles, and she earned four Olympic gold medals. Off the court she has funded schools in Kenya and Jamaica. She retired from professional play in 2022, an inspiration to a generation of players.