Serena Williams.

Serena Williams is the greatest woman tennis player in history. She broke down barriers for women, especially for black women involving athletics and her legacy is here forevermore. For numerous decades, she has expressed a great love for her family, friends, tennis, and excellence. Her accolades are monumental. She was ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) as the world's No. 1 in singles on 8 separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. Serena Williams has the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Grand Slam wins in the Open Era, and is second on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24). She has won an all-time record of 13 Grand Slam singles titles on the hard court. Williams holds the Open Era record for most titles won at the Australian Open (7) and shares the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open with Chris Evert (6). She also holds the all-time record for the most women's singles matches won at majors with 331 matches. Serena Williams is also a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships in the singles division. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in women's singles and three in women's doubles—an all-time record shared with her sister, Venus Williams. Now, it is time to show a summary of her life and legacy.

Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Oracene Price and Richard Williams Jr. She is the youngest of Price’s five daughters of Yetunde, Lyndrea, Isha, and Venus. The family moved into Compton, California when she was young. Serena Williams started to play tennis when she was three years old. Her father Robert Williams home-schooled his daughters Venus and Serena Williams. Richard Williams mentored the Williams sisters in tennis too. Serena Williams moved into West Palm Beach, Florida when she was nine. She attended the tennis academy of Rick Macci. Macci coached the William sisters. Richard Williams heard many white parents use derogatory language against the Williams sisters. It is no secret that the Williams sisters were victims of racism throughout their lives. Serena Williams was coached by her father in 1995 away from Macci. Serena Williams uses baseline and has a serve and great groundstrokes.  She consistently projects great pace and placement with her serves; in the 2013 Australian Open, she had a peak serve speed of 128.6 mph (207.0 km/h) which is the third fastest all-time among women players (only Venus's 129 mph and Sabine Lisicki's 131 mph recorded speeds are faster). Serena Williams debuted in the professional realm as a wild-card entry in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California, but was denied by the WTA due to age-eligibility restrictions of the organization.



She subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women's tour, but withdrew it at the behest of her parents. Her first professional event was in October 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, where she used a wild-card entry to circumvent age-eligibility rules. She lost in the first round of qualifying to then 18-year-old American Annie Miller, winning just two games. She didn’t play a tournament in 1996. By 1997, Serena Williams won more victories. Ranked No. 304, she upset No. 7, Mary Pierce, and No. 4, Monica Seles, 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. She ultimately lost in the semifinals to No. 5, Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked No. 99. She played in 1998. She lost to Venus Williams in 1998 too. Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine Testud. A month later, Williams won her first professional singles title when she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris. With Venus also winning the IGA Superthrift Classic in Memphis, Tennessee that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week. 1999 was the break out year for her in tennis. In March of 1999, Serena Williams won her first Tier I title in defeating Steffi Graff in the final of the Evert Cup in California. Serena Williams was No. 9 rank by 1999 too. She defeated Grand Slam champions of Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martinez, and Monica Seles including Hingis (to be the second African American woman after Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament). To complete her 1999 season, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia. Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.

Serena Williams made more accomplishments during the 21st century. Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 W/L record, eight singles titles, and the No. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American to end a year with that ranking since Althea Gibson in 1958 and was the first woman to win three Grand Slam tournament titles in one year since Hingis in 1997. Her three consecutive Grand Slam titles to close 2002 also made Williams only the third player in tennis history to win the "Surface Slam", three Slam titles on three surfaces in the same calendar year, after Navratilova (1984) and Graf (1993, 1995, 1996). In the 2003 Australian Open, she defeated Venus Williams to win the tournament and becoming the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam. The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event. She had injuries and came back better than ever. Serena Williams won the singles gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. She made more awards and victories in 2015. The week of February 15, 2016 marked Williams's 157th consecutive week ranked No. 1, passing Navratilova's mark of 156 to have the second-longest run in WTA history behind Steffi Graf's 186. She experienced her pregnancy in 2017. By 2018, she came back into tennis. She continues to play hard and is an inspiration for people who desire to achieve magnificent goals or aims. 

So, in conclusion, Serena Williams is the greatest woman tennis player in history and one of the greatest athletes in human history. She survived so much and achieved so much. She is a mother with a daughter and she promotes great causes from pay equity to social justice. Serena Jameka Williams always acknowledges pass black tennis players who sacrificed so much for us to do what we’re doing today in terms of jobs and other aspects of living. For example, Althea Gibson won Wimbledon and played golf. Arthur Ashe was an expert on black history and inspired society too. Her Grand Slam singles titles outline her skills and strength. She is unapologetic in her blackness and she has always shown that our bodies aren’t meant to be shamed or validated from a racist, patriarchal society. Our bodies have the right to be expressed and appreciated by our own souls via autonomy and dignity. The Williams sisters opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center. This is a community center in Compton, California that fights to build communities (in remembrance of their oldest sister who was a victim of a drive by shooting in 2013). From activism, fashion, sports, and other aspects of world society, she has presented the world the truth that a black woman has every right to show her gifts without apology. Therefore, we salute Sister Serena Williams. 


By Timothy