Serena Williams

About Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams, (born September 26, 1981) is an American female tennis player who has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in women's doubles. She is currently the top ranked American female player. She is the last player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. In 2005, Tennis magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is the younger sister of another former World No. 1 professional female tennis player, Venus Williams. Serena currently resides at Ballen Isles in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.[citation needed]

Williams is primarily an offensive baseline player. Her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with her powerful serve, aggressive return of serve, and forceful groundstrokes that can come from both the forehand and backhand wing.

Her serve is widely regarded as the best in the women's game. She is known for having a very smooth motion and her serve is one of the most highly respected on the WTA tour. For example, Lindsay Davenport has said that Williams's serve is the best serve that she has faced on the WTA tour. Williams frequently hits serves over 120 mph and often varies the placement of her serve. She can hit flat, slice, and topspin serves to both corners of the service box. At the 2008 Family Circle Cup in her quarterfinal match against Maria Sharapova, Serena tied her sister Venus's record for the fastest serve by a woman on the WTA tour with a 129 mph serve.