Career Highlights
2002
Won her second Grand Slam title at the French Open by defeating her sister Venus 7-5, 6-3. The sisters performance in Paris made them the No. 1 (Venus) and No. 2 (Serena) players in the world -- a first for siblings.
Reached back-to-back finals at the German Open and Italian Open facing Justine Henin in both. Henin won in Berlin, but Williams won in Rome.
Withdrew from the Australian Open after twisting her ankle in the semifinals in Sydney.
Won the title in Scottsdale by defeating Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati back-to-back.
In Miami, defeated her sister Venus for the first time since 1999 to advance to the final where she defeated Jennifer Capriati 7-5, 7-6 (4). Serena won the title without dropping a set.
2001
Won her first title of the year at Indian Wells, Calif., amid the controversy over her sister, Venus, withdrawing from their match in the semifinals. Defeated Kim Clijsters, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the title. Is the last final she has reached.
Reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open where she was the first of the two Williams sisters to fall to Martina Hingis in her road to the final. Serena and sister Venus went on to win the doubles Grand Slam trophy, but both expressed disappointment in their singles performance.
Was ousted in the quarterfinals at the French Open and Wimbledon by Jennifer Capriati. Also lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals in Miami.
Reached the first primetime final at the U.S. Open only to fall to older sister Venus 6-2, 6-4. It was only the second time ever that sisters had met in a Grand Slam final.
She became the first player to win the Tour's season-ending championships on her debut, receiving a walkover in the final when Davenport withdrew due to injury.
2000
Her first singles title of the year was the Faber Grand Prix as she defeated Denisa Chladkova. She prevailed against Lindsay Davenport in the Los Angeles Open and defeated Julie Halard-Decugis in straight sets to win the Princess Cup. She also reached the finals of the Open Gaz de France, losing to Nathalie Tauziat, and du Maurier Open, retiring against Martina Hingis.
Advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon but lost to sister Venus. The sisters won doubles defeating Julie Halard-Decugis and Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-2.
At the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics won doubles gold medal with sister Venus defeating the Netherlands' Miriam Oremans and Kristie Boogert 6-1, 6-1.
1999
Seeded seventh, upset No. 1 Martina Hingis, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and No. 4 Monica Seles en route to her first career Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open, becoming the lowest seed to win the women's title in the Open era (since 1968), the sixth American woman in the Open Era to win, and the second black woman ever to win a Grand Slam singles title (Althea Gibson won five, her last coming at the 1958 U.S. Championships). After the Open, her ranking moved up to a then-career high world No. 4.
Also won the Open doubles title with sister Venus, becoming the fifth woman in the Open Era to win both singles and doubles in the same year.
Won first singles title of the year at Paris Indoors, becoming the 13th unseeded player to win a Tier II or higher event since 1980. The same day her sister, Venus, won Oklahoma City, marking the first time in professional tennis history that two sisters won titles in the same week.
Ranked No. 21, became the lowest-ranked player to win a Tier I event (since the tier structure began in 1980) when she won at Indian Wells with wins over Top 10 players Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce and Steffi Graf. She ended Graf's completed finals winning streak at 20, which dated back to 1995.
Playing her first singles tournament in two months, won her third title at Los Angeles which moved her ranking back into the Top 10 at No. 9, tying her career high.
Won her first WTA career title by beating Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 in the Open Gaz de France. Followed it up by winning the next week, beating Steffi Graf in the Evert Cup. Her streak was stopped by her older sister Venus when Venus beat her 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to take the Lipton Championships title. It was the first all-sister women's final in 115 years.
Her 16-match winning streak is the best winning streak that includes a player's first title since Steffi Graf's 23-match streak in 1986.
1998
Playing in her first Grand Slam singles event, ousted sixth seed Irina Spirlea in the first round of the Australian Open before losing to her sister, Venus, in the second round.
By defeating 10th-ranked Irina Spirlea in only her 16th career WTA Tour main-draw singles match at Lipton, she defeated five Top 10 players faster than any player in the history of professional women's tennis, breaking the previous record set by Monica Seles in 1989 who recorded her fifth career Top 10 victory in her 33rd main-draw match.
Ranked No. 40, defeated three Top 30 players en route to a quarterfinal finish at 1998 Lipton -- No. 10 Irina Spirlea, No. 17 Patty Schnyder and No. 26 Barbara Paulus. Held two match points on world No. 1 Martina Hingis before losing in a third-set tie-break. Her ranking jumped to a then-career high No. 30.
Ranked No. 96 and playing in her third main draw event on the major tour, made a stunning comeback to defeat world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport at the 1998 Sydney event and advance to the semifinals as a qualifier.
World-ranked No. 53 on January 19, 1998, became the third-highest ranked player after three major-tour main draw events since 1976.
1997
In just her second WTA Tour main draw event, and only her fifth professional tournament in her career, defeated two world Top 10 players at 1997 Chicago -- No. 7 Mary Pierce in the second round and No. 4 Monica Seles in the quarterfinals. Ranked No. 304, became the lowest ranked player to defeat a Top 5 player since unranked Stephanie Rehe defeated No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini at 1990 Hilton Head, and the lowest ranked player to defeat two Top 10 players in one tournament. Her ranking subsequently vaulted to 102.
Personal
Managed and coached by her father, Richard.
Comepetes against her older sister Venus on the women's tour.
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