Serena Williams

Birth Data

Biography

American ranking tennis player in 1998 along with her 15-month older sister, Venus. Her sister is in the Top Ten and Serena in the Top 50 and moving ahead. The girls were brought up in a supportive environment to prepare them for such pressures as the media and competition bring to bear during the tennis tours. Their dad Richard has been called both a genius and a racist who is keeping his gifted kids wrapped in the bosom of their family. He groomed his five daughters to play tennis, but it was the two youngest who paid off, with Venus winning $1.2 million in career prizes and Serena already winning $242,000 by the time she was 16.

During their early professional life, both girls became known as combative and confrontational, skipping tournaments and boasting about being best. Their professional behavior needed a little seasoning to go along with their talent. Serena at 16 is 5'10", 145 lbs, so muscular that the crowd whistles when she takes off her sweatshirt to reveal her sculpted shoulders. Off the court, the sisters are like teenagers everywhere, giggling about boys and talking about clothes and movies.

Serena signed a $12 million contract to represent Puma sporting gear in 1998. The following year she and her sister moved out of their parents' home into a house they built nearby. They've remained close in spite of Serena's surge into the No.1 spot on the tennis circuit.

On 9/11/1999, in New York City, Serena became the first African American to win a tennis Grand Slam singles title since Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975, and the first African American woman to win the U.S. Open since Althea Gibson in 1958. With her huge 6-3, 7-6 victory over Martina Hingis, Serena, in her third year as a pro, also proved that she was no longer a bratty wannabe with a tendency to feud with other players. Her cockiness is now backed up with winner's cups.

In July 2000 Serena was challenged in a tournament against her sister in the finals elimination for the Wimbledon Title. Defeated by Venus, fittingly enough, the tournament ended on a family note of harmony with the sisters taking the ladies' doubles crown, 7/10/2000.

The bonded sisters have splurged some of the $45 million earnings on a new $2.7 million mansion that they share, along with $3.2 million to buy a house for their folks, Oracene and Richard. Serena is the youngest of the five daughter of Richard, a former sharecropper, and Oracene, a nurse. Her sisters are Yetunde, Isha, Lyndrea and Venus.

Serena and sister Venus competed head-to-head in the finals of a "major" tournament (U.S. Open) for the first time at 8:00 PM (EDT) on Sep. 8, 2001.

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