Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on three separate occasions; as of August 24, she is ranked World No.3. She is the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles champion and has won 18 Grand Slam titles: seven in women's singles, nine in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. In addition, she has won three Olympic gold medals, one in women's singles and two in women's doubles. In 2005 Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 25th-best player in 40 years.Williams reached US Open finals at the age of 17, becoming the first woman since 1978 to reach US Open final on debut and was first unseeded female US Open finalist since 1958. After her breakthrough, Williams breached the top ten on the WTA world rankings for the first time in 1998 when she won Lipton Championships in Miami. Between 2002 and 2001, Williams won four of six Grand Slam she entered. Her 35-match winning streak remains longest of the millennium. She became the World No. 1 for the first time in February 2002.
Williams suffered an abdominal injury in mid-2003 which prevented her from playing. Upon her return in 2004, she experienced inconsistent results. In 2005, she won her first Grand Slam title in four years at Wimbledon, but since then she suffered from wrist injury and only played six events in 2006. Her world rankings suffered as a result, the nadir being World No. 54 in February 2006. However, Williams eventually won another Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon in 2007, becoming the lowest-seeded and lowest-ranked Wimbledon champion in history. Williams returned to the top ten later that year and has since competed in every Grand Slam event. She returned to the top three for the first time in six years in May 2009.
Williams is the elder sister of fellow former World No. 1 professional female tennis player Serena 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.
Williams is one of the most powerful baseliners on tour, equipped with an attacking all-court game. Her game is very well adapted to grass where she feels most comfortable, which is reflected in her Grand Slam results as she has five Wimbledon titles. Across her career, she has developed into a skillful volleyer and effectively utilizes her long 'wingspan' (1.85m) and agility around the net.[5] She stated during an interview at the 2008 Australian Open that she was working to improve her volley. Williams also has great court coverage using her long reach to play balls that most players would not be able to reach and is capable of hitting outright winners from a defensive position.[6]
She holds the record for the fastest serve struck by a woman in a main draw event. At the Zurich Open, she recorded 130 mph (210 km/h). She also holds the record for fastest serve in all four Grand Slam tournaments: 2003 Australian Open quarterfinal - 125 mph (201 km/h), 2007 French Open second round, 2008 Wimbledon final, 2007 US Open first round - 129 mph.[7] At Wimbledon in 2008, her average first serve speed was 115 mph (185 km/h) in the quarterfinal, 116 mph (187 km/h) in the semifinal, and 111 mph (179 km/h) in the final. She also had a higher average serving speed than then World No.1 Roger Federer as well as eventual men's champion Rafael Nadal.
Williams has always been a explosive hitter of the ball off the ground, but her backhand is the more consistently reliable of her groundstrokes. Her backhand is equally effective down-the-line or crosscourt (frequently for a set-up approach shot). Her forehand occasionally breaks down under pressure. However, it is still the more powerful of her groundstrokes and yields many winners, from a variety of court positions. Additionally, it is one the most powerful forehands in the women's game, frequently struck in the 85 - 90 mph (140 km/h) range. In the 2008 Wimbledon women's final, Venus struck a forehand winner measured at 94 mph (IBM/Wimbledon). Only a few women (notably Ivanović, Serena Williams, and Justine Henin) hit to these speeds off the ground.
Williams' best surface are grass courts where she has won Wimbledon five times and has at least reached the finals in eight of the last ten years. The low bounces that grass produces tends to make her first serve an even more powerful weapon. Her movement on grass is also among the best on the WTA tour. Clay is Williams' weakest surface where her movement is suspect and her powerful serve and groundstrokes aren't as effective on the slow surface.
