Serena Williams: the tennis star’s career - in pictures

A presidential appointment

Serena and her sister Venus (left) with US president Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy at a tennis tournament in Los Angeles in 1990.

Serena, who was born on 26 September 1981, is a year younger than sister Venus, and they have three half-sisters, Yetunde, Lyndrea and Isha. Serena started playing tennis at the age of four.

Sibling solidarity

Serena (left) and Venus shaking hands after a game in 1991 in Compton, California.

The rivalry between the sisters is legendary but they’ve also played in several doubles tournaments together, winning 13 grand slam titles and three Olympic gold medals as a pair.

Although Venus is older, by just over a year, Serena was the first to win a major tournament, taking the US Open title in 1999 aged just 17.

Going pro

Serena and Venus Williams on the famous Arthur Ashe Stadium court at the 1997 US Open in New York.

Serena turned professional in 1995 and her first event was in October that year at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City. By the end of 1997 she was ranked 97 in the world.

First match against Martina Hingis

Serena poses on the beach during the Lipton International Players Championship in Key Biscayne, Florida, in March 1998.

It was during that tournament that she played her first match against world No.1 Martina Hingis. The two players would go on to meet 13 times in all between 1998 and 2002. Their head-to-head record ended 7-6 in Williams’ favour, said Tennis Now.

Sealed with a kiss

The 17-year-old Serena kisses the trophy after beating Hingis in straight sets to win the US Open in 1999. In doing so she became the first African American woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a grand slam singles title.

An unfriendly audience

At the Indian Wells tournament in 2001 Serena, Venus and their father Richard became the targets of “racist abuse, epithets and overwhelming boos from the unfriendly audience”, said Scoop.

An injured Venus had withdrawn at the last minute from her semi-final against Serena, leading some to speculate about collusion between the sisters and their father. The atmosphere did not stop Serena from taking the title with a three-set victory in the final against Kim Clijsters.

Wimbledon wonder

Serena had already taken her sister Venus’s world No.1 ranking by reaching the Wimbledon final in 2002. She then took Venus’s Wimbledon title too by winning the final 7-6, 6-3. It was the first final at SW19 between sisters since the inaugural women’s event in 1884.

Serena followed up her French Open triumph earlier in the year by winning Wimbledon without dropping a set. “At the beginning of the year, I told myself I don’t care what else happens this year, I want to win Wimbledon,” she told the BBC.

‘Gosh I got gold’

Victory over Maria Sharapova in the 2012 Olympic final at Wimbledon elevated Serena to an exclusive club of tennis greats. Only Germany’s Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi of the United States, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Serena have won all four grand slam singles titles and Olympic gold.

“Oh my gosh, I got the gold,” she said. “I’ve never played better. Playing against someone like Maria you have to be at your best. I knew that, so it was like I had nothing to lose.”

The record breaker

Serena poses with the Australian Open trophy after her victory over Venus in the 2017 final in Melbourne.

It was her 23rd grand slam singles title, overtaking Steffi Graf’s professional-era record of 22. The win, Serena’s seventh Australian Open triumph, ensured her return to the No.1 ranking.

Bowing out

Serena walks off the court after playing what could well be the final match of her glittering career – a third-round defeat by Ajla Tomljanovic at the US Open on 2 September this year.

Announcing her impending retirement in her column in Vogue in August, she wrote: “That time is always hard when you love something so much. I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”