Serena Williams Profile

American tennis player Serena Williams has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and is in fact the last player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slams at the same time.

Serena, who became a women's doubles gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics along with sister Venus Williams, had her breakthrough year in 1999 when she won her first two career tour singles titles (Paris and Indian Wells) and her first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open.

Serena also reached the final of the Miami Masters (now known as Sony Ericsson Open) but lost to her sister Venus in the final and thus seeing her 16-match winning streak come to an end.

In 2000 her best Grand Slam performance was the run to Wimbledon's semifinals, where she lost to sister and eventual champion Venus. She also failed to defend her U.S Open title as she fell to Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals.

In 2001 Williams had another Top 10 season, winning three more titles (Indian Wells, Toronto and the Tour Championships), but losing to Venus at the U.S. Open final. She also reached the quarterfinals of the other three Grand Slam events but lost them all

Her best tennis period to date came between the years of 2002 and 2003 when she rose to number one in the world. Even though she missed the 2002 Australian Open due to injury she managed to win all four Grand Slam events in a row starting with the 2002 French Open. Although she didn't complete the Grand Slam in the same calendar year she did hold all four Grand Slam event titles at the same time when she won the 2003 Australian Open and became just the fifth woman ever to complete a career Grand Slam.

In 2003 she also defeated Venus Williams to win Wimbledon and reached the Roland Garros' semifinals, where she lost to Justin Henin. Unfortunately due to a knee injury Serena had to cut her season short and had to skip the 2003 U.S Open.

In this period Serena won 12 of 15 finals she played in and five of six Grand Slam events she entered. Even though Serena has managed to win the Australian Open in 2005 and 2007 she has not been able to dominate her opponents in the way that she did during her 2002 and 2003 seasons.

In fact since winning the 2007 Australian Open she has failed to get past the quarterfinals of any other Grand Slam event. Furthermore from 2004 to 2007 she only reached nine finals and won five tournaments.

Although many consider that she's already past her prime, Serena continues to be a very popular player (specially in the U.S.A) and a dangerous opponent that fills the seats of any tennis venue whenever she plays.

Birthday: September 26, 1981
Birthplace: Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Pro since: 1995