Serena Williams | Biography, Titles, & Facts | Britannica

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What Makes Serena Williams One of the Greatest Tennis Players in History?
What Makes Serena Williams One of the Greatest Tennis Players in History?Learn more about the life and career of American tennis player Serena Williams.(more)See all videos for this article

Serena Williams (born September 26, 1981, Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.) is a retired American tennis player who revolutionized women’s tennis with her powerful style of play and who won more Grand Slam singles titles (23) than any other woman during the open era. Williams and her elder sister, Venus Williams, emerged in the mid-1990s and soon became dominant players on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, both in singles and as doubles partners. In 1999 Serena Williams won her first major tournament, the U.S. Open, when she was just 17 years old. Over the following decades Williams surpassed her sister and fought off challenges from other contemporaries, including Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova, to become the undisputed best women’s player in the 21st century. Chasing history in her later career, Williams passed Steffi Graf’s record 22 Grand Slam singles wins with her last major victory, at the 2017 Australian Open, but injuries prevented her from breaking Margaret Court’s all-time record (24 major singles victories, achieved in 1973). Off the court, Williams became a prominent public figure through her forays into fashion, business, and philanthropy.

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