Serena Jameka Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is of African American heritage and is one of five sisters: Lyndrea, Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Isha, and Venus. Her mother raised Williams and her other daughters as members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group. When the children were young, the family moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where Williams started playing tennis at the age of four. Her father home-schooled Williams and her sister Venus. To this end, Williams was and remains coached by both her parents.
Williams reached the top ten on the WTA world rankings for the first time in 1999 when she won several tournaments, including her first Grand Slam victory at the US Open at the age of 17. Between 2002 and 2003, Williams won five of the six Grand Slam events she entered, becoming the fifth woman in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. She became the World Number 1 for the first time in July 2002.
Williams' domination of the sport came to an abrupt end in mid-2003 when she had surgery to repair a partial tear in a knee tendon.rUpon her return to the sport in 2004, her results were noticeably less consistent than previously. In early 2005, she won her first Grand Slam title in 18 months at the Australian Open, but a string of injuries then limited her to competing in just 13 events in the two years that followed, winning none of them. Her standing in the world rankings suffered as a result, the nadir being World Number 140 in July 2006, leading to widespread speculation that she had passed her peak. Williams, however, eventually won another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2007, despite being ranked World Number 81 at the time. Williams returned to the top ten later that year and has since competed in every Grand Slam event. She became the World Number 1 for the first time in five years in September 2008. She was named female athlete of 2009 by the Associated Press.
Williams is the younger sister of fellow former World Number 1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams. They have played each other in 23 professional matches dating back to 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches as of October 2009.
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 combines great power and placement with very high consistency. Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player, she also plays a strong defensive game.
Williams started playing professional tennis in September 1995. Her first professional event was the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, where she was defeated in less than an hour of play and earned US$240 in prize money.
Williams did not play any tournaments in 1996. In 1997, she played at several tournaments but failed to win a main-draw match until October at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked World No. 304, she upset both former World No. 1 Monica Seles and Mary Pierce, recording her first career wins over Top 10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the open era to defeat two Top 10 opponents in one tournament.
Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier, ranked World No. 96, she defeated World No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semifinals.
Williams was forced to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open due to injury, but won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, USA, defeating Martina Hingis in the semifinals and Jennifer Capriati in the final.
At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams defeated Amelie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–1 in the semifinals to make the final for the first time. There, she again defeated defending champion Venus 7–6(4), 6–3 to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set for the first time. This victory earned Williams the World No. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and succeeding her as the second African-American woman to hold the top ranking on the WTA).The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam title for the pair in women's doubles.
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