Serena Williams
Posted on March 10, 2009
Filed Under Tennis
Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Serena Williams is currently the top ranked female professional tennis player in the world. Only 27 years old, Williams is also the current US and Australian Open singles champion, the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles in total (10 in singles, 8 women’s doubles and 2 mixed doubles) and is the most recent player to have held all four of the Grand Slam titles at the same time. Serena Williams is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest athletes ever to pick up a racket, being named the 17th best athlete by Tennis magazine in 2005. She still has much of her career ahead of her; and along with her sister Venus, she is one of the most popular players in the world of tennis.
The youngest of five children, her family moved to Los Angeles, where her father decided to begin coaching all of his children in tennis on the public courts in Compton. Serena and her sister Venus especially took to the game, with Serena willing her first tournament before the age of five! By the time she was ten, she had already won 46 tournaments.
The Williams family chose to home school their children; and fearing that they would be exposed to the ugliness of racism, decided to stop sending the sisters to national junior’s tennis tournaments. Serena was sent to a Florida tennis school operated by the professional player Rick Macci. While at the school, she often trained with Andy Roddick. In one practice match, she even defeated this seasoned player.
All these years of training built Serena into an incredible player. While she is best known as a baseline player, her technique consists of taking control of the rallies and Williams is considered to be one of the more aggressive players in the sport. Her serve, return and ground strokes whether fore or backhand are known for their power. Her serves are known as among the best in tennis, winning admiration from players, sportscasters and fans at every match. She serves at a high speed, regularly meeting and even exceeding 120 mph (she broke a record with her serves of 127 and 129 mph at Charleston in 2008). Her return serve can overpower opponents; and she hits both topspin and flat serves on either corner of the service box.
Aside from her playing style, Serena is also known for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. Her family has opened a clothing line named Aneres. She also made several television and movie appearances. She also posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She eventually made a lucrative career as a product endorser. In May 2004, Serena William’s partnership with Nike debuted custom-designed sports apparel. Serena also received the Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundations in 2003 for her participation in the breast cancer drives. She also had her charities to spend time with off the court. In November 2008, she funded the construction and completion of a secondary school in Kenya.
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