Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on four separate occasions; as of July 27, 2009, she is ranked World No. 2. She is the reigning US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon singles champion and has won 22 Grand Slam titles: 11 in singles, nine in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. In addition, she has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She also has won more Grand Slam titles than any other active female player and has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history. In 2005, Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player in 40 years.Williams breached the top ten on the WTA world rankings for the first time in 1999 when she won several tournaments, including her first Grand Slam victory at the US Open at the age of 17. Between 2002 and 2003, Williams won five of the six Grand Slam events she entered, becoming the fifth woman in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. She became the World No. 1 for the first time in July 2002.
Williams' domination of the sport came to an abrupt end in mid-2003 when she had surgery to repair a partial tear in a knee tendon. Upon her return to the sport in 2004, her results were noticeably less consistent than previously. In early 2005, she won her first Grand Slam title in 18 months at the Australian Open, but a string of injuries then limited her to competing in just 13 events in the two years that followed, winning none of them. Her standing in the world rankings suffered as a result, the nadir being World No. 140 in July 2006, leading to widespread speculation that she had passed her peak. Williams, however, eventually won another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2007, despite being ranked World No. 81 at the time. Williams returned to the top ten later that year and has since competed in every Grand Slam event. She became the World No. 1 for the first time in five years in September 2008.
Williams is the younger sister of fellow former World No. 1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams. The sisters have played each other in 21 professional matches dating back to 1998, with Serena winning 11 matches played between them as of July 2009. Their meeting in the final of the 2001 US Open was the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters in the open era. As of July 2009, they have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six of those. Between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open, the sisters met in all four Grand Slam finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals.
She was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Williams is of Black American heritage and is one of five sisters: Lyndrea, Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Isha, and Venus. Oracene raised the children as Jehovah's Witnesses .When the children were young, the family moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where Serena started playing tennis at the age of four. Richard, who home-schooled his children, perhaps hoped[weasel words] that involvement in sports would give them an opportunity for a better life, and dreamed[weasel words] of making at least one of his daughters a tennis superstar. To this end, Williams was and remains coached by both her parents.
The Williams family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach when Serena was nine, to attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters, and although he did not always agree with Richard's unorthodox approaches, respected him for allowing his daughters to grow up like regular children. Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Serena was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of white players talk about the Williams sisters in an derogatory manner during tournaments.At that time, Serena had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under 10 players in Florida.in 1995, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit would have been beneficial, Serena responded: "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just tried a different road, and it worked for us.
Williams is primarily a baseline player. Her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with a powerful and consistent serve (considered by some to be the best in the women's game), return of serve, and forceful groundstrokes from both her forehand and backhand swings. Her serve is technically very sound and has been hit as hard as 128 mph (203 kph), second fastest all-time.
Williams' solid volleys—especially her drive volleys and powerful overheads give her advantages over the net. She produces good drop volleys, a shot that not many players use.
Although Williams' forehand is among the most powerful shots in the women's game, her backhand is considered to be one of, if not the best, on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Williams can hit a winning backhand shot in any position or place on the court down the line or cross court, even when on the defensive or otherwise under pressure. Williams strikes her backhand groundstroke using an open stance, and uses the same open stance for her forehand.
Williams' aggressive style of play results in a relatively high number of unforced errors. This 'high risk' style is balanced in part by her serve, which is generally more consistently explosive.
Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player, she also plays a strong defensive game. She is quick around the court, and her core strength enables her to hit the ball efficiently from difficult positions. Williams has more variety in her game than the typical offensive baseline player. Although she normally dictates play from the baseline with heavy strokes, she occasionally slices her backhand or hits heavy topspin groundstrokes or drop shots to change the pace of the ball.
Williams started playing professional tennis in September 1995. Her first professional event was the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, where she was defeated in less than an hour of play and earned only US$240 in prize money.
Williams did not play any tournaments in 1996. In 1997, she played at several tournaments but failed to win a main-draw match until October at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked World No. 304, she upset both former World No. 1 Monica Seles and Mary Pierce, recording her first career wins over Top 10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the open era to defeat two Top 10 opponents in one tournament. She ultimately lost in the semifinals to Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked World No. 99.
Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier, ranked World No. 96, she defeated World No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semifinals. Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam at the Australian Open, where she defeated sixth seed Irina Spirlea in the first round before losing to sister Venus in the second round, in the sisters' first professional match.
Williams reached six other quarterfinals during the year but lost all of them, including her first match against World No. 1 Martina Hingis at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and her second match against Venus at the Italian Open in Rome. She failed to make a major impact at any of the season's Grand Slam tournaments, losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Sanchez-Vicario and the third round of both Wimbledon and the US Open, to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Spirlea. She did, however, win the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand Slams. Williams won her first professional title in doubles in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win such a WTA title. The Williams sisters went on to win two further doubles titles together during the season. Serena finished the season ranked World No. 20 in singles.
Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine Testud. However, she rebounded in February when she defeated Australian Open runner-up Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris to win her first professional singles title. With Venus also winning a tournament on that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week. A month later, Serena won the prestigious Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, her first Tier I title, having defeated World No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and World No. 8 Mary Pierce in early rounds, before defeating 22-times Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf in the final, after coming back from a break down in the deciding set. At the following tournament, the Lipton Championships in Miami, Williams defeated World No. 1 Martina Hingis for the first time in the semifinals, before losing to Venus in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history. In April, Serena entered the top ten on the rankings for the first time.
Williams lost in the third round of the French Open to Mary Joe Fernandez, although she did team up with Venus to win the doubles title at the event, their first Grand Slam doubles title with each other. Serena missed Wimbledon because of injury, but she started the summer hard court season strongly by winning her third title of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles. There, she defeated World No. 1 Hingis in the semifinals before defeating Julie Halard-Decugis in the final.
Williams was the seventh-seeded player at the 1999 US Open, where she made the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career, having been a game away from defeat in the third round against future champion Kim Clijsters before defeating former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, Williams defeated fourth seed and former champion Monica Seles before defeating second seed and defending champion Davenport in the semifinals. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Hingis 6–3, 7–6(4) to win the first Grand Slam title of her career. Williams was the second African-American woman (after Althea Gibson in 1958) to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. Williams also teamed up with Venus to win the women's doubles title at the event, their second Grand Slam title with each other.
Serena's fifth tournament victory of the season was at the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, where she defeated Davenport in the semifinals, before defeating Venus for the first time in the final. Serena ended the year ranked at No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour. She also contributed to the United States' victory over Russia in the final of the 1999 Fed Cup, winning her singles rubber before teaming with Venus to win the doubles rubber.
Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to 16th seed Elena Likhovtseva. She failed to defend either of her titles in Paris or in Indian Wells, losing to Nathalie Tauziat in the final of the former and to Pierce in the quarterfinals of the latter, although she did win the Faber Grand Prix in Hanover, defeating Denisa Chladkova in the final.
Williams missed the French Open due to injury. She returned at Wimbledon, where she lost just 13 games in advancing to the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career. However, there, she was beaten by eventual champion Venus. The Williams sisters teamed up to win the doubles title at the event. Serena went on to defend her title in Los Angeles in August, defeating World No. 1 Hingis in the semifinals and World No. 2 Davenport in the final. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open in Montreal, Canada the following week, but was forced to retire due to injury against Hingis. Her defense of the US Open title came to a disappointing end when she lost in the quarterfinals to second seed Davenport.
Williams teamed up with Venus to win the gold medal for doubles at the Sydney Olympics in September. Serena went on to win her third singles title of the year the following week at the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, defeating Halard-Decugis in the final. She finished the season as World No. 6.
Williams started 2001 by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, but lost there to top seed Hingis 6–2, 3–6, 8–6. However, Williams teamed up with Venus to win the women's doubles title at the event, completing a Career Grand Slam in women's doubles for the pair. Serena then did not play again until March. She returned in Indian Wells, where she defeated World No. 2 Davenport 6–2, 6–1 in the quarterfinals. She was due to play Venus in the semifinals; however, Venus withdrew an hour before the anticipated start of the match, citing an injury. This fuelled speculation that matches between the Williams sisters were fixed. Serena defeated Kim Clijsters in the final to win the title for a second time, but was booed throughout the final, allegedly due to racial hostilities. Both Williams sisters have boycotted the tournament since.
In May, Williams reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time, but lost there in three sets to eventual champion Jennifer Capriati. At Wimbledon, Williams again lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati, marking the fourth consecutive Grand Slam at which Williams had exited in the quarterfinals. Williams rebounded in the summer hardcourt season, winning the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Seles in the semifinals and Capriati in the final. As the tenth seed at the US Open, Williams defeated Wimbledon runner-up Justine Henin, third seed Davenport and top seed Hingis 6–3, 6–2 in order to reach the final for the second time in her career. There, she played Venus in the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters in the open era. Venus won the match 6–2, 6–4.
Williams did not play again until the year-ending Sanex Championships in Munich in November. Playing at the tournament for the first time, she reached the final, winning the title by default when Davenport withdrew due to a knee injury. Williams finished the season as World No. 6 having won three titles.
Williams was forced to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open due to injury, but won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, USA, defeating Martina Hingis in the semifinals and Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Tier I Ericsson Open in Miami for the first time, becoming the second player in the open era to defeat the wotld's top three at one tournament, after beating World No. 3 Hingis in the quarterfinals, World No. 2 and sister Venus in the semifinals and World No. 1 Capriati in the final. Her 6–2, 6–2 win over Venus was only the second win over her sister in her career.
Williams reached the final at a clay court event for the first time in May, at the Eurocard German Open in Berlin, losing to Justine Henin. The following week, Williams won her first clay title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final.[19] This increased her ranking to a new high of World No. 3. Williams, as the third seed at the 2002 French Open, dropped just two sets en route to the final (including a victory over top seed and defending champion Capriati in the semifinals), where she defeated sister Venus 7–5, 6–3. This gave Serena the second Grand Slam title of her career and increased her ranking to World No. 2, behind only Venus.
At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams defeated Amelie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–1 in the semifinals to make the final for the first time. There, she again defeated defending champion Venus 7–6(4), 6–3 to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set for the first time. This victory earned Serena the World No. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and succeeding her as the second African-American woman to hold the top ranking on the WTA).[1] The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam title for the pair in women's doubles.
Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to Chanda Rubin, ending a 21-match winning streak. Despite that, she went into the US Open as a strong favorite for the title. She defeated former champion Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals of the tournament to make the final for the third time. Playing Venus for the third consecutive Grand Slam final, Serena won once again, 6–4, 6–3, to win her second US Open title and fourth Grand Slam singles title.
Williams won back-to-back titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo and defeating Anastasia Myskina in the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-ending Home Depot Championships, but lost surprisingly to 19-year-old Clijsters in straight sets, ending a 18-match winning streak. Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 record, eight singles titles, and the World No. 1 ranking, becoming the first African-American (male or female) to end a year ranked #1 in the world. She was the first woman to win three Grand Slam titles in one season since Hingis in 1997.
At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams was just three points away from losing to Emilie Loit in the first round, before eventually winning. Williams went on to make the semifinals for the first time, where she saved two match points in defeating Clijsters. She faced her sister Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won 7–6(4), 3–6, 6–4 to become the first African-American to win the title and the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova.[20] As the titles were not held within a single calendar year, they are not considered as a "Grand Slam", with Williams instead dubbing the achievement the "Serena Slam". The Williams sisters won the doubles title, their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together.
Williams captured titles at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, defeating Mauresmo in the final, as well as her second consecutive victory in Miami, defeating Clijsters in the semifinals and Capriati in the final. Williams went on to make the final at the clay-court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, USA, but lost there to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. Despite that, Williams went into the French Open strongly tipped to win her fifth consecutive Grand Slam title. However, after defeating fifth seed Mauresmo 6–1, 6–2 in the quarterfinals, Williams lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, marking Williams' first loss in a Grand Slam since 2001. The match was controversial as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship and spectators applauded Williams' errors.
Williams rebounded from the loss at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinals and Venus 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. This would prove to be her last tournament of the year, as knee surgery prevented her from competing in any other events that year, including the US Open. As a result of her absence, she lost the World No. 1 ranking to Clijsters in August, having held it for 57 consecutive weeks. Williams finished the season ranked World No. 3 and with four titles.
On September 14, while Williams was still recovering from surgery, her sister Yetunde Price was murdered. Yetunde was said to be very close to both Serena and Venus, and her death is often cited as a reason for the Williams sisters' erratic form in the years that followed.
Williams did not play at the 2004 Australian Open as she continued to recover from her knee injury. She then withdrew from further tournaments, which generated speculation that she was losing interest in the sport. Williams finally returned at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami in late March, where she defeated the rising Maria Sharapova en route to the final, where she defeated Elena Dementieva to win the title for the third consecutive year.
However, suggestions that Williams was about to resume her dominance of the sport were premature; she failed to win any of her first three clay-court events of the year. She then lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Jennifer Capriati, Williams' earliest loss at a Grand Slam since 2001. She rebounded at Wimbledon, where she defeated Capriati 6–1, 6–1 in the quarterfinals and then came back from a set and a break down to win in the semifinals against Amelie Mauresmo to make the final for the third consecutive year. However, there, she was upset by the 17-year old Sharapova 6–1, 6–4. Williams' failure to defend her Wimbledon title resulted in her losing her place in the world's top 10 for the first time since early 1999.
Williams reached her third final of the year at the beginning of the summer hardcourt season at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, but then she lost to Lindsay Davenport 6–1, 6–3, her first loss to Davenport since 2000. Williams was then forced to withdraw from the Athens Olympics due to a knee injury. She returned for the US Open, but lost a quarterfinal match with Capriati in which there were several missed calls, including an egregious call which led to the suspension of the chair umpire for the remainder of the tournament; this match is commonly referred to as the impetus for the current challenge system.
Williams won her second title of the year at the China Open in Beijing, in which she defeated US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Williams qualified for the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, where she defeated Mauresmo in the semifinals but again lost to Sharapova in the final 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, having led 4–0 in the third set before suffering an abdominal injury which resulted in her serving balls below 90 mph. Williams finished 2004 ranked No. 7, and had not won a Grand Slam for the first year since 2001.
At the 2005 Australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis following Venus's early exit at the tournament. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, Serena defeated second seed Mauresmo 6–2, 6–2. In the semifinals, she saved three match points in defeating fourth seed Sharapova 2–6, 7–5, 8–6. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport 2–6, 6–3, 6–0 to win her second Australian Open title and seventh Grand Slam singles title. The win moved Williams back to World No. 2, and she stated she was now targeting the number one spot.
However, Williams failed to reach the final at any of the other tournaments during the spring hardcourt season, a period that included a loss to sister Venus in the quarterfinals of Miami in March – the first time since 2001 that she had either lost to Venus or lost in Miami. She withdrew from the French Open due to an ankle injury. She returned for Wimbledon, but, after struggling through her first two matches in three sets, she was defeated in the third round by Jill Craybas (ranked World No. 85).
As the eighth seed at the 2005 US Open, Williams appeared to be showing improved form by winning her first three matches without dropping a set; however, she then lost to Venus in the fourth round. Serena played just one more match the remainder of the year, a loss to World No. 127 Sun Tiantian in Beijing, and failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998. She finished the season as World No. 11, her first time finishing outside of the world top 10 since 1998.
The following year, as defending champion at the 2006 Australian Open, Williams lost to 17th seed Daniela Hantuchová in the third round.[28] Williams did not play any other tournaments for six months, causing her to fall outside of the top 100 on the rankings for the first time since 1997. Her string of withdrawals led to speculation that she was on the verge of retirement, which she denied. The official reason given for this lengthy absence was to nurse a chronic knee injury, although Williams later admitted she was in need of a mental break.
Williams returned in July at the W&S Financial Group Women's Open, where she defeated World No. 11 Anastasia Myskina 6–2, 6–2 in the first round before ultimately losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva. She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Jelena Jankovic. At the 2006 US Open, Williams was unseeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 1998, having needed to accept a wildcard to enter due to her ranking being so low. She defeated US Open Series champion Ana Ivanovic in the third round, but then lost to top seed Mauresmo in the fourth round in three sets. She did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked World No. 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997. Williams had played just four tournaments during the season.
Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to return to the top of the rankings, a comment former player and commentator Pat Cash branded "deluded". She was not considered a favorite at the Australian Open, unseeded because of her World No. 81 ranking and widely regarded as "out of shape".[31] In spite of this, in the third round of the tournament, Williams defeated fifth seed Nadia Petrova 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, having been down 5–3 in the second set. This marked Williams' first victory over a player ranked in the top 10 in two years. Williams went on to make the quarterfinals, where was again nearly defeated but eventually prevailed over 16th seed Shahar Peer 3–6, 6–2, 8–6. Williams then defeated Nicole Vaidisova in straight sets to make her first final at any tier on the WTA Tour in two years. There, she crushed top-seeded Maria Sharapova 6–1, 6–2, winning her third Australian Open singles title and her eighth Grand Slam singles title overall. Her performance in the final was described as "one of the best performances of her career" and as "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis".[34] Williams dedicated the victory to her deceased sister, Yetunde,[33] whom she credited as inspiration for her win. Her ranking rose to World No. 14 as a result of the victory.
Williams next played at the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in late March, where she posted another convincing victory over World No. 2 Sharapova (6–1, 6–1) in the fourth round. In the final, Williams defeated World No. 1 Justine Henin 0–6, 7–5, 6–3, having saved a match point in the second set. This was Williams' fourth Miami title. She returned to the top 10 for the first time in more than a year in May and went into the French Open confident of success, but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Henin in straight sets. Williams was one of the favorites for the Wimbledon title, but again lost in the quarterfinals to Henin, this time in three sets.
Due to a thumb injury, Williams did not play again until the US Open, where she defeated Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in the fourth round but then lost her third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal to Henin. In the fall, Williams reached her third final 0f the year, at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, after she defeated World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. However, she lost in the final to Elena Dementieva. Williams' ranking rose to World No. 5, and qualified her for the 2007 WTA Tour Championships. Her participation there was short: citing an injury, she retired from her first round robin match with Anna Chakvetadze and withdrew from the tournament. Serena finished 2007 as World No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.
As the defending champion at the 2008 Australian Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to fourth seed Jelena Jankovic, her fourth consecutive defeat in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. After taking February off due to dental surgery, Williams returned to the tour clinching three consecutive titles. At the Bangalore Open in Bangalore, India, Williams saved a match point in defeating Venus in the semifinals, in her first win over her sister since 2003. She then defeated Patty Schnyder in the final. Williams then won her fifth title in Miami, tying Steffi Graf's record, having defeated World No. 1 Henin 6–2, 6–0 in the quarterfinals, World No. 3 Kuznetsova in the semifinals and World No. 4 Jankovic in the final. Williams followed up with a win at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, posting her fourth consecutive win over Sharapova in the quarterfinals before going on to defeat Vera Zvonareva in the final to win her tenth career Tier I title and first clay court title since the 2002 French Open.
Williams' 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. As the only former champion in the draw of the French Open following the sudden retirement of four-times champion Henin, Williams lost surprisingly in the third round to Katarina Srebotnik. On grass, Williams reached the final of Wimbledon for the first time in four years, having defeated 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo in the third round and Chinese wild-card Zheng Jie in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to Venus 7–5, 6–4. This was the first Grand Slam final in which the Williams sisters had played each other since 2003. The sisters teamed up to win the women's doubles title at the event, their first Grand Slam doubles title since 2003.
Playing in the singles draw at the Olympics for the first time in Beijing, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to eventual gold-medalist Dementieva, although she and Venus won the gold medal in doubles, to add to their victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. As the fourth seed at the US Open, Williams defeated Venus in the quarterfinals 7–6(6), 7–6(7) after saving a total of 10 set points; sixth seed and US Open Series champion Safina in the semifinals 6–3, 6–2; and second seed Janković in the final 6–4, 7–5. The victory, her third US Open title and ninth Grand Slam title overall, also returned her to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time since 2003.
However, Williams' tenure at number one lasted just four weeks, as she lost the position after losing her first match after the US Open, a match against Na Li at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. At the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, after defeating World No. 2 Safina and losing to Venus in her first two round-robin matches, Serena withdrew from her third round-robin match against Dementieva due to injury. She ended the year ranked World No. 2 and with four titles, her strongest performance in both respects since 2003.
Williams' first tournament of 2009 was the Medibank International Sydney, where she lost to Dementieva in the semifinals 6–3, 6–1. Despite this, she was the bookmakers' favorite for the Australian Open title. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, Williams was two points from losing to Kuznetsova before eventually winning 5–7, 7–5, 6–1. She then defeated fourth seed Dementieva in straight sets in the semifinals. In the final, Williams defeated Safina 6–0, 6–3 in 59 minutes. This meant she became the seventh woman to win ten Grand Slam singles titles, while it also made her the highest earner in the history of women's sports, overtaking golfer Annika Sörenstam. Williams also reclaimed the World No. 1 WTA ranking with the win. Meanwhile, partnering with Venus, Serena also captured the doubles title for the third time.
Williams lost in the semifinals of the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships to Venus, which marked Venus' 10th win in 19 career meetings between the pair, the first time Venus had led the sisters' head-to-head since 2002. Serena drew level in the head-to-head again by defeating Venus in the semifinals of Miami several weeks later, a result that ensured Serena retained the World No. 1 ranking. In the final, bidding to become the first person to win the tournament six times, Williams lost to Victoria Azarenka having been hampered by a left thigh strain.
The loss to Azarenka proved to be the first of four consecutive losses Williams suffered, losing her opening match at her first three clay-court events of the year and providing Williams with the longest losing streak of her career. The run also meant Williams lost the World No. 1 ranking to Safina on April 20 and it ensured she went into the French Open without having won a match on clay during the year. Despite that lack of preparation, Williams reached the quarterfinals of the tournament before losing to the eventual champion Kuznetsova 7–6 (4), 5–7, 7–5, which ended her 18-match Grand Slam winning streak.
Williams rebounded at Wimbledon, defeating eighth seed Azarenka 6–2, 6–3 in the quarterfinals, before saving a match point in defeating fourth seed Dementieva in the semifinals 6–7(4), 7–5, 8–6. Facing Venus in the final, Serena won 7–6(3), 6–2, losing only eight points on serve. This gave Serena her third Wimbledon title and her 11th Grand Slam singles title. Serena and Venus teamed up to win the women's doubles title at the event for the second consecutive year, their ninth Grand Slam title in women's doubles.
Following Wimbledon, Williams' modest results in tournaments other than Grand Slams continued as she failed to win any of her three warm-up tournaments for the US Open. Despite this, she is the bookmakers' favorite for the title at the US Open itself, which is ongoing.
