Serena Williams

EARLY LIFE 

Tennis star Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan on September 26, 1981 to Oracene Price and Richard Williams.

At the 2009 Australian Open By Sascha Wenninger, Melbourne, Australia. 

She is the younger sister of another former world # professional female tennis player, Venus Williams.

When the children were young, the Williams family moved to Compton, California.

She began playing tennis when she was four years old, and was home-schooled by her father, who was also her coach.

In 1998, when they were still teenagers, Venus and Serena Williams made a newsletter called Tennis Monthly Recap where they interviewed famous tennis players.

Venus & Serena Williams at a Pam Shriver event in Baltimore, 1993 By Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com 

TENNIS CAREER 

Serena Williams is regarded by many as the greatest-ever female tennis star. She's captured 23 Grand Slam singles titles to go along with 14 doubles titles alongside her sister Venus Williams.

Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles is second on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24).

She earned her first career grand slam singles title by defeating Martina Hingis in the final match at the 1999 US Open.

Serena and Venus met in the U.S. Open final in 2001. It was the first women's Grand Slam final to be televised in prime time. Bruce Willis, Robert Redford and Spike Lee all attended.

She reached the #1 ranking for the first time on July 8, 2002. On her sixth occasion, Serena held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf.

In 2009, Serena went on a four-match singles losing streak. She blamed the WTA tour's scheduling for her on-court woes.

Williams was the highest paid female sportswoman in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 she was the only woman on Forbes' list of the 100 highest paid athletes with $27 million in prize money and endorsements.

MEDIA 

The Simpsons once featured the Williams sisters in a 2001 episode called "Tennis the Menace." That marked Serena's prime-time TV debut.

Serena has appeared in a number of television shows including: ER, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Bernie Mac Show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, MADtv, Punk'd, and America's Next Top Model.

She voiced Ming the Prison Guard on Avatar: The Last Airbender, after Serena said it was her "favorite show."

Serena Williams made a cameo appearance in the movie Pixels, which starred Adam Sandler and Kevin James and premiered on July 24, 2015. In the movie, Williams plays herself, and she helps the main characters defeat the aliens who are attacking Earth using classic arcade games.

The music video for Beyoncé's Lemonade song "Sorry" features a cameo from Serena Williams. The tennis champion explained to the New York Daily News that she had known the visual's director, Dikayl Rimmasch, since she was nine years old.

She softly recited the lyrics to LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" in a commercial for JP Morgan Chase that debuted at the 2018 US Open tournament.

In 2019, Williams starred in the first-ever Super Bowl ad for Bumble, a dating app in which female users make the first contact with matched male users.

PERSONAL LIFE 

Venus and Serena lived together for 15 years in a 8,500-square-foot mansion in Florida.

Yetunde Price was the oldest half-sister of Venus and Serena Williams. She was a 31-year-old nurse and mother of three children when she was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton, California on September 14, 2003.

Price was sitting in a car with her boyfriend, Rolland Wormley, when they were caught in the crossfire of a gang-related shooting. Wormley was also shot, but he survived. Price was pronounced dead at the scene.

The murder of Yetunde Price was a tragedy that had a profound impact on Venus and Serena Williams. They were both very close to their sister, and her death was a huge loss for them. In 2016, the Williams family opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton, California. The center is a community space that provides services to families and children affected by gun violence.

In 2016, Williams got engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The pair welcomed a daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., in September 2017 and married on November 16, 2017 in New Orleans.

Ohanian in 2018. By Web Summit 

Serena had previously been linked romantically to the likes of her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, movie director Brett Ratner, actor/rapper Common and NFL star LaVar Arrington.

She lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, United States with her husband and daughter.

She was raised a Jehovah's Witness and still follows some practices of the denomination like not celebrating birthdays.

Serena was left fighting for her life in 2011 when she needed surgery after suffering a blood clot in her lung.

Serena can catch a flying ball of gelato in her mouth.

Source Tennis