Serena Williams

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams was born on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Today, she is a renowned American professional tennis player. Serena was the youngest of her five sisters. When the children were young, the family relocated to the city of Compton in Los Angeles, where Serena started playing tennis at the age of five. Serena and her older sister Venus began daily two-hour practices with her father. Her father home-schooled Serena and her sister Venus and to this day, Serena Williams remains coached by both her parents. In 1995, when Serena was in the ninth grade, her father pulled both Serena and Venus out of school, and began coaching both of his daughters at their home. Subsequently, Serena turned pro that same year, and, along with her sister Venus, enjoyed a run of prestigious victories. Two years later, she was already number ninety-nine in the world rankings. That was up from three hundred and four just twelve months earlier. A year later, she graduated high school, and almost immediately signed a $12 million shoe deal with Puma, a well known shoe company based in Germany. In 1999, she beat out her sister, Venus, in their pursuit to the family 's first Grand Slam win, when Serena captured the U.S. Open title. On April 5, 1999, Serena made her top-10 debut at world number nine. Serena subsequently won the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles when she defeated world number one Hingis in the semifinals and Julie Halard-Decugis in the finals. This would mark the first time, of many, that she would upset the number one ranked player in the world. Williams ended 1999 ranked world number four in just her second full year on the main tour. The next two years, both 2000 and 2001, Serena finished world rank number six. She knocked off number one Hingis during both of these years winning three singles titles in 2000 as well as three singles titles in 2001. Both of these years Serena and Venus won all

Cited: A&E. Serena Williams Biography. 2011. November 26, 2011 <http://www.biography.com/people/serena-williams-9532901>. Encyclopedia of World Biographies. Serena Williams Biography. October 2011. November 26, 2011 <http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/sh-z/williams-serena.html>.