Serena Williams the youngest of Richard and Oracene Williams’ five daughters was born on September 26, 1981, Michigan. The family moved to Compton in Los Angeles County, when the girls were young. Serena started playing tennis at the age of five in Campton. Serena William along with sister Venus were home-tutored by their father. Serena Williams is still coached by her parents at present.

When Serena Williams was nine, the family relocated to Haines City from Capton, to facilitate her to attend Rick Macci’s tennis academy. Macci spotted the talents of the sisters. At the United States Tennis Association junior tour, Williams had a 46–3 record and was also ranked No. 1 among Under-10 players in Florida. Serena’s father pulled her out of Macci’s academy when she was in the ninth grade, and started coaching at home.

1995 saw Serena Williams entering the professional circuit. She was ranked world No. 99 in two years. She had been ranked 304 just 12 months ago. After graduating from high school in 1996, she inked a $12 million deal with Puma. In 1999, she won the U.S. Open title when she beat her sister Venus. Serena has won 23 Grand Slam titles which include 10 doubles championships with Venus over ten years. Serena Williams defeated Venus in the finals of the 2002 Wimbledon, French Open and the U.S. Open. She won her first Australian Open in 2003. This win made her one of only five women players to have complete grand slam sets. She won the U.S. Open in 2008 and teamed up with Venus to capture a women’s doubles Olympic gold at the Beijing Games.

Serena has had her share of ups and down in her career graph. Serena Williams was shocked by the murder of her sister Yetunde Price in Los Angeles in 2003. She was affected by a motivation to stay fit and was bitten by injuries. All this caused her tennis ranking to plummet down to 139.

By 2009, she worked hard to win back her World No. 1 ranking, but everything wasn’t going smoothly. In September, she shouted at a lineswomen for a foot-fault called at the end of a semi-final loss to Kim Clijsters, who eventually won the U.S. Open that year. Tennis Association fined Serena $10,000 on the spot. Two months later, she was ordered to pay $82,500 to the Grand Slam committee and was placed on two-year probation.

By early 2010, Serena gave her best to move past the incident, was gearing up for the upcoming Australian Open. Her 2011 hasn’t been that good, with losses at the semi-final level. However she has a career that only a few have matched in terms of success. She has won 27 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles– more than any other active player, male or female.

The brand of Serena Williams covers brand into fashion, television, and film. She has appeared on television shows and done voice-over for The Simpsons. She even launched her own line of clothing- “Aneres”. In 2002 People magazine recognized Serena Williams as one of its 25 Most Intriguing People. Serena Williams was deemed by the Essence magazine to be one of the country’s 50 Most Inspiring African-Americans.