On January 31, 2009, tennis phenom Serena Williams defeated Dinara Safina in the Australian Open, bumping Williams back up to the No. 1 position in the women's world tennis rankings. This was Serena’s fourth Australian Open championship title and the 10th major tournament win for Williams, who also won the U.S. Open title in September of 2008.
Williams is only the seventh woman in tennis history with double-digit Grand Slam singles titles. With this win, she also broke the records of former champions Monica Seles and Maureen Connolly, who each won nine major titles.
Born Serena Jameka Williams on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, Serena was raised in the turbulent Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton. Her father, Richard Williams, dreamed that his daughters would have a better life as professional tennis players and encouraged his daughters to strive for their best which turned into Olympic gold medals and world tennis titles.
Serena's first major achievement was capturing the US Open singles title in 1999 (becoming the first African-American woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win the title). She partnered with her sister to gain doubles titles in the US Open and French Open in 1999, Wimbledon in 2000 and 2002, and the Australian Open in 2001 and 2003. Further successes include singles titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2002, and the Wimbledon and Australian Open in 2003.
In 2002 and 2003, the Williams sisters faced off in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, the only siblings in the history of the sport to do so; Serena defeated Venus each time. The sisters also share an Olympic gold medal in women's doubles which they received in 2000.
Known for her flamboyant fashion choices on the court, Serena Williams has launched her own line for Puma and Nike, as well as a designer clothing line called Aneres.
The older of the Williams sisters, Venus Ebone Starr Williams was born on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California. In 2002, Venus became the first African American, male or female, to rise to the No. 1 ranking in tennis.
Coached by her father, she rose to stardom in 2000 when she became the dominant female player of the year with her singles title wins in Wimbledon and the US Open, and an Olympic gold in Sydney. That year, she also won the Wimbledon doubles title with her sister. In 2001, she retained the Wimbledon and the US Open singles titles, but in 2003 was defeated by her sister in the Wimbledon singles final.
After a less successful 2004, at the start of 2005 Venus was seeded ninth but came back to form to win the Wimbledon singles title for a third time. It was the longest Wimbledon final in history and Venus was the lowest ranked player to win the women's singles title ever. During the 2006 season, Williams was plagued by injuries and failed to win any significant matches.
