American professional tennis player (born 1981)

Last updated on: May 9, 2022.

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked singles world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis *ociation (WTA) for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles *les, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time (behind Margaret Court's 24).

Along with her older sister Venus, Serena Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1995, she won her first major singles *le at the 1999 US Open. From the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open, she was dominant, winning all four major singles *les (each time over Venus in the final) to achieve a non-calendar year Grand Slam and the career Grand Slam, known as the "Serena Slam". The next few years saw her claim two more singles majors, but suffer from injury and decline in form. Beginning in 2007, however, she gradually returned to form despite continued injuries, retaking the world No. 1 singles ranking. Beginning at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, Williams returned to dominance, claiming Olympic gold and becoming the first tennis player to achieve a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. She won eight out of thirteen singles majors, including all four in a row from 2014–15 to achieve a second "Serena Slam". At the 2017 Australian Open, she won her 23rd major singles *le, surp*ing Steffi Graf's Open Era record. She then took a break from professional tennis after becoming pregnant, and has reached four major finals since returning to play.

Williams has also won 14 major women's doubles *les, all with her sister Venus, and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. This includes a non-calendar year Grand Slam between the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and the 2010 French Open, which granted the sisters the doubles world No. 1 ranking. She has won four Olympic gold medals, three in women's doubles — an all-time joint record shared with her sister. She has also won two major mixed doubles *les, both in 1998.

Williams is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Serena holds the most combined major *les in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles among active players, with 39: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era for total major *les. She is the most recent woman to simultaneously hold all four major singles *les (2002–03 and 2014–15), and the most recent woman to win the Surface Slam (major *les on hard, clay and gr* courts in the same calendar year), doing so in 2015. She is also, with Venus, the most recent player to have simultaneously held all four major women's doubles *les (2009–10).

Williams was the world's highest paid woman athlete in 2016, earning almost $29 million. She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on Forbes' list of the 100 highest-paid athletes, with $27:million in prize money and endor*ts. She has won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award four times (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), and in December 2015 was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 2021, she was ranked 28th on Forbes' World's Highest-Paid Athletes list. She is the highest-earning woman athlete of all time.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Professional career
  • 2.1 1995–1998: Professional debut
    • 2.1.1 Battle of the sexes: Karsten Braasch vs. the Williams sisters
  • 2.2 1999–2001: Becoming a top-10 player
  • 2.3 2002–2003: "Serena Slam"
  • 2.4 2004–2007: Injuries and the comeback
  • 2.5 2008–2010: Back to No. 1 and injuries
  • 2.6 2011–2013: Return to dominance, career golden slam
  • 2.7 2014–2015: Second 'Serena Slam'
  • 2.8 2016: Open Era Grand Slam record
  • 2.9 2017: Australian Open victory and pregnancy
  • 2.10 2018: Return to tennis, Wimbledon and US Open runner up
  • 2.11 2019: Return to the top 10, injuries, Wimbledon and US Open runner-up
  • 2.12 2020: First *le since maternity leave
  • 2.13 2021: Australian Open semifinal, out of top 40
  • 2.14 2022: More withdrawals and King Richard promotion
• 3 Playing style
• 4 Rivalries
  • 4.1 Serena vs. Venus
  • 4.2 Williams vs. Hingis
  • 4.3 Williams vs. Capriati
  • 4.4 Williams vs. Henin
  • 4.5 Williams vs. Azarenka
  • 4.6 Williams vs. Sharapova
• 5 Match controversies
  • 5.1 Accusations of match fixing
  • 5.2 Indian Wells boycott
  • 5.3 2004 US Open
  • 5.4 2009 US Open
  • 5.5 2011 US Open
  • 5.6 2018 US Open
  • 5.7 Other issues
• 6 Legacy
• 7 Personal life
• 8 Off-court activities
  • 8.1 Equipment and endor*ts
  • 8.2 Fashion
  • 8.3 Activism
  • 8.4 Entertainment
  • 8.5 Language fluency
  • 8.6 Miami Dolphins venture
  • 8.7 Charity work
  • 8.8 Writing
  • 8.9 Soccer
• 9 Career statistics
  • 9.1 Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
  • 9.2 Grand Slam tournament finals
    • 9.2.1 Singles: 33 (23–10)
    • 9.2.2 Women's doubles: 14 (14–0)
    • 9.2.3 Mixed doubles: 4 (2–2)
• 10 Records
• 11 Filmography
• 12 See also
• 13 References
• 14 Bibliography
• 15 External links

Early life

Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan to Oracene Price and Richard Williams. She is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea, and Isha Price, and full older sister Venus. She also has at least seven paternal half-siblings. When the children were young, the family moved to Compton, California, where she started playing tennis at age four. Her father home-schooled her and her sister, Venus. While he and subsequently her mother have been their official coaches, her other mentors have included Richard Williams, a Compton man who shared her father's name and subsequently founded The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis/Tutorial Academy.

Williams sisters at a Pam Shriver event in Baltimore, 1993

When Williams was nine, she and her family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach, Florida so she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who provided her with additional coaching. Macci did not always agree with Williams's father, but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, as he wanted them to "go slowly" and focus on school work. Experiences of racism also influenced this decision, as he had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis *ociation junior tour and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether it would have been more beneficial for them to have followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit, Williams responded, "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us."

Professional career

1995–1998: Professional debut

Williams's parents wanted their daughter to wait until she was 16 to participate in professional tournaments. In 1995, just after turning 14, Williams planned to make her professional debut as a wild-card entry in the Bank of the West Cl*ic in Oakland, California, but was denied by the WTA due to their age-eligibility restrictions. She subsequently filed an an*rust lawsuit against the women's tour, but withdrew it at her parents' request. Her first professional event was in October 1995 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec, where she used a wild-card entry to cir*vent age-eligibility rules. She lost in the first qualifying round to then 18-year-old American Annie Miller, winning just two games.

Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. The next year, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments, before winning her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked No. 304, she upset No. 7 Mary Pierce, and No. 4 Monica Seles, 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 No. 5 Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked No. 99.

Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier ranked No. 96, she defeated No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, where she defeated sixth-seeded Irina Spîrlea in the first round, before losing to her sister, Venus, in the second round in the sisters' first professional match. She reached six other quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them, including her first match against No. 1-ranked Martina Hingis at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, and her second match against Venus at the Italian Open in Rome. She failed to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament the remainder of the year, losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and the third round of the US Open to Spîrlea. She withdrew from Wimbledon two games into a match with Virginia Ruano Pascual, after straining a calf muscle during the first set. She did win the mixed doubles *les at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand Slam tournaments. She won her first professional *le in doubles in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA *le. They won two more doubles *les that year. Williams finished the year ranked No. 20 in singles.

Battle of the sexes: Karsten Braasch vs. the Williams sisters

Main article: Battle of the Sexes (tennis)

A 16-year-old Serena and her sister Venus competed in a tennis "Battle of the Sexes" against Karsten Braasch at the 1998 Australian Open. At the time Braasch was 203rd in the ATP rankings. The sisters had claimed they could beat any man outside the top 200, and accepted his challenge. Braasch beat both of them, playing one set against each. The score vs Serena was 6–1 and vs Venus 6–2. Braasch said afterward, "500 and above, no chance." The sisters later tweaked the number to beating men outside the top 350.

1999–2001: Becoming a top-10 player

Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine Testud. A month later, Williams won her first professional singles *le when she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris. With Venus also winning the IGA Superthrift Cl*ic in Memphis, Tennessee, that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week. In March of that year, at the Evert Cup in California, Williams won her first Tier I *le, defeating Steffi Graf in the final. Soon afterward at the Miami Masters, Williams had her 16-match winning streak ended by her sister in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history, and she then made her top-10 debut, at No. 9. She then lost in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open and the German Open, and the third round of the French Open, where she and Venus won the women's doubles *le. Williams then missed Wimbledon because of injury. When she returned to the tour, Williams won a Fed Cup singles match and then won the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, beating Julie Halard-Decugis in the final. She then defeated in succession Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles, and defending champion Lindsay Davenport to reach the US Open final, where she defeated No. 1, Hingis, to become the second African-American woman, after Althea Gibson in 1958, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. The Williams sisters also won the doubles *le at this tournament. To complete her 1999 season, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia. Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.

Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Elena Likhovtseva. She failed to defend her *les in Paris and Indian Wells, although she did win the Faber Grand Prix in Germany. Soon afterwards, Williams missed the French Open because of injury. She returned from injury at the Wimbledon Championships, where she lost to Venus in the semifinals, but the pair won the doubles *le at the event. Williams successfully defended her *le in Los Angeles, defeating Davenport in the final. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open where an injury forced her to retire from her match with Hingis. Her defense of the US Open *le ended when she lost in the quarterfinals to Davenport. Williams teamed with Venus to win the gold medal in doubles at the Sydney Olympics that September. She ended the year winning the Toyota Princess Cup in *an and she finished the year ranked No. 6.

Williams began 2001 losing to Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals of the Medibank International in Sydney and the Australian Open in Melbourne. Williams and her sister won the doubles *le at the latter tournament, becoming only the fifth doubles team in history to win all four Grand Slam women's doubles *les during their career, completing a "Career Grand Slam". Her next event was the Pacific Life Open in California, where she defeated Kim Clijsters in the final. The final was marred by the behavior of the crowd toward Williams and her family. Crowd members were incensed at the perceived match-fixing of games involving the family after Venus withdrew before their semifinal. Neither Williams nor her sister entered the tournament for fourteen years until Williams entered in 2015 as a wildcard (and the top seed). The following week at the Ericsson Open in Miami, Williams lost to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati at both the French Open and Wimbledon Championships. That was the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament at which Williams had exited in the quarterfinals. During the North American hard-court season, she lost in the quarterfinals of Los Angeles against Monica Seles, then captured her second *le of the year at the Rogers Cup, defeating Capriati in the final. Williams reached the final of the 2001 US Open, losing to sister Venus. That was the first Grand Slam tournament final contested by two sisters during the Open Era. At the 2001 season-ending Tour Championships, Williams won the championship by walkover when Davenport withdrew before the start of the final due to a knee injury. Williams finished 2001 at No. 6 for the second straight year.

2002–2003: "Serena Slam"

Early 2002, injury saw Williams retire from the semifinal at the Medibank International Sydney and later withdraw from the Australian Open.

Playing Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Sydney in 2002

Returning from injury, Williams won her first *le of the year in Scottsdale, Arizona, defeating No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, in the final. She then won the Miami Masters for the first time, becoming one of three players in the Open Era to defeat the world's top 3 ranked players at one tournament, after beating No. 3, Martina Hingis, in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Venus in the semifinals, and the top-ranked player, Capriati, in the final. Serena's straight set win over Venus was her second career win over her sister.

Williams played three clay-court tournaments before the 2002 French Open. Her first tournament was at Charleston, where she was the third seed. Williams reached the quarterfinals before losing to Patty Schnyder. She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the Eurocard German Open losing to Justine Henin in a third set tiebreak. Williams went on to win her first clay court *le at the Italian Open, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. This raised her ranking to a new high of No. 3. Williams was the third seed at the French Open at Roland Garros, where she claimed her first *le thereby defeating defending champion Capriati in the semifinals and sister Venus in the final to win her second Grand Slam tournament *le (and her first in two-and-a-half years). As a result of raising the trophy at Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams rose to a career-high of No. 2, second only to Venus.

At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams won tennis's oldest championship for the first time in her life, defeating Venus to win a Grand Slam singles *le without dropping a set for the first time in her career. This victory earned Williams the world No. 1 ranking for the first time, dethroning her sister and becoming only the third African American woman to hold that ranking. The Williams sisters also won the doubles *le at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam doubles *le for the pair. Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to American Chanda Rubin and ending a 21-match winning streak. The top-seeded player at the US Open, Williams reached the final where, for the third Grand Slam in a row, she defeated her sister to win the *le, the second US Open crown of her career. Williams won two consecutive singles *les in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, and Anastasia Myskina to win the Spark*en Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-end Home Depot Championships at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where she lost to fifth-seeded Clijsters in straight sets, ending an 18-match winning streak.

Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 W/L record, eight singles *les, and the No. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American to end a year with that ranking since Althea Gibson in 1958 and was the first woman to win three Grand Slam tournament *les in one year since Hingis in 1997. Her three consecutive Grand Slam *les to close 2002 also made Williams only the third player in tennis history to win the "Surface Slam", three Slam *les on three surfaces in the same calendar year, after Navratilova (1984) and Graf (1993, 1995, 1996).

At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams reached the tournament's semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the third set and saved two match points before defeating Clijsters. In the final, Serena faced Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final, defeating her older sister to become the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, alongside Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. She also became the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam singles *les simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly Brinker, Court, Graf, and Navratilova. This feat was dubbed the "Serena Slam" by the press. The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles *le together at this event.

During the spring of 2003, Williams captured the singles *les at the Open Gaz de France and the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams's winning streak came to an end when she lost the final of the Family Circle Cup to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She also lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the InterNational Socialist German Workers' Partyonali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the top seed at the French Open, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin, marking Williams's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2001. The match was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams's errors. Williams rebounded from the French Open loss a couple weeks later at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin in the semifinals and Venus in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon *le and her sixth Grand Slam singles *le overall. Wimbledon was Williams's last tournament of 2003; she pulled out of three events in the US and then underwent surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee in early August. Williams was initially expected to be out for six to eight weeks.

2004–2007: Injuries and the comeback

Main articles: 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Serena Williams tennis season

After eight months away from the tour, during which time her desire was questioned, Williams began her comeback at the 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami in March, where she made a triumphant return as she won the *le for the third consecutive year.

Delivering a serve at an exhibition in November 2004

Although ranked No. 7, Williams was seeded second at the French Open, where, after winning four matches, she lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals. That was the first time that Williams had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. A few weeks later, even though her ranking had dropped to No. 10, Williams was seeded first at Wimbledon. She won six matches en route to the final, where 13th-seeded Maria Sharapova defeated her in straight sets. This loss caused her ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 1999. Later that summer, Williams reached her third final of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles where she lost to Lindsay Davenport which was her first loss to the American since the 2000 US Open. After missing her national championship in 2003, Williams returned for the 2004 US Open, where she was seeded third despite her No. 11 ranking. She lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Capriati in three sets in controversial fashion. That fall, Williams won her second *le of the year, at the China Open, defeating US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Williams's successful season allowed her to qualify for the Tour Championships, held again in Los Angeles. In the round-robin phase of the tournament, Williams defeated Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina and lost to Davenport, but still advanced to the elimination stage. After winning her semifinal, she lost to Sharapova in the final, where she suffered an abdominal injury. Williams finished 2004 ranked No. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first season 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. Williams saved three match points to defeat Sharapova 8–6 in the third of their semifinal. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport to win her second Australian Open and seventh Grand Slam singles *le, winning 12 of the last 15 games. The win moved Williams back to No. 2 but stated she was targeting the top spot.

Williams completed just two tournaments between the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing to Venus in Miami and at InterNational Socialist German Workers' Partyonali BNL d'Italia to Francesca Schiavone as Williams suffered a series of retirements and withdraws. A reoccurring ankle injury causing her to miss the French Open. She returned for Wimbledon as the 4th-seeded player, but was defeated in the third round by No. 85, Jill Craybas. At the US Open, Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth round. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first meeting, at the 1998 Australian Open. Williams played just one more match that fall, a loss to No. 127 Sun Tiantian at the tournament in Beijing. She failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998 and she finished the year 2005 ranked No. 11, her first time finishing the season outside the top 10 since 1998.

Williams made her 2006 debut at the Australian Open. Defending the *le, Williams lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the third round. After the tournament, she told the press that she was injured, blaming a lack of fitness and a knee injury for keeping her off the court. In her biography, Williams claims that she was actually suffering from depression. She stayed away from pro tennis for six months during the 2006 season. After she had shut herself off from the world for a period, Williams saw a therapist daily. After a chance meeting with a young girl who idolized Williams and believed that she could still win, Williams signed up to play in Cincinnati, her first tournament since Melbourne. Williams had slipped to No. 139, the lowest ranking she had held since 1997. On her return, Williams defeated Myskina and Bethanie Mattek, before losing in the semifinals to Vera Zvonareva. She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Janković in straight sets. At the US Open, Williams needed a wildcard to enter the tournament, as her ranking at the cut-off time was No. 139, outside the automatic 102. Her ranking had improved to 79th by the time the tournament came around. She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the fourth round. Following the US Open, she did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked No. 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997.

Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to return to the top of the rankings, a comment 1987 Wimbledon men's singles champion and commentator Pat Cash branded "deluded".

Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the Hobart International, a warm-up for the Australian Open where Williams was unseeded because of her No. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as "out of shape". She experienced a huge amount of pressure on herself before the tournament, coming from her fans and the press as well as Williams herself about her weight, focus and needing a good showing.

Shortly before her first match, a representative from Nike paid her a visit in the players' lounge, informing her that if she did not perform to her accustomed level, the company might drop her. Williams claimed that Nike's ultimatum meant that she would have to reach the quarterfinals at least.

The distraction from Nike did not distract Williams, as she lost just three games to Mara Santangelo and defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets. By this point, a blister had developed on Williams's foot and she had contracted a cold. In the third round, Williams found herself two points away from going home against Nadia Petrova, but fought back to win in three sets, which was her first win over a top-10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final. Williams then made it to the final, defeating Janković, Pe'er and Vaidišová. Williams described them as "good players. Strong players. Players who certainly didn't expect an overweight, out-of-shape, has been champion like me to give them a game." Williams also found herself two points from going out against Peer before turning it around. By the time Williams had reached the final, the cold and blister had both left. Previewing the finals, Tracy Austin stated that, although Williams had a great tournament, she believed that the ride was over and that Sharapova would have no trouble with Williams. Williams thought it was mean and unnecessary and used it as motivation along with other criticism. In the final, Williams lost just three games against Maria Sharapova, winning her first *le at any tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open 24 months prior. Williams became the first player since Chris O'Neil to win the *le while not being seeded, and claimed her third Australian Open and eighth Grand Slam singles *le overall. The win elevated Williams to 14th in the rankings. Williams dedicated the *le to her deceased half-sister Yetunde. Her performance in the final was described in the press as "one of the best performances of her career" and "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis". In her post-match interview, Williams took a swipe at her critics, stating that she had proved them wrong. Williams won the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the fourth time by defeating Justine Henin. Williams had to record a come-from-behind win after being whitewashed in the first set and saving two match points in the second. She played for her country in the Fed Cup for the first time since 2003 in a tie against Belgium, and won her opening match but withdrew from her second, because of a knee injury.

At the French Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Henin. During her fourth round match against Hantuchová at Wimbledon, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the second set. After a medical timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, rain forced play to be suspended for nearly two hours. When the players returned, Williams won the match in three sets. Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with Henin, whilst suffering from the injuries sustained in the previous round. At the US Open, Williams lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin. Williams reached the final of Kremlin Cup, losing to Elena Dementieva. Williams qualified for the WTA Championships, but retired from her first match with Anna Chakvetadze with a knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the event. Williams finished 2007 as No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.

2008–2010: Back to No. 1 and injuries

Main articles: 2008, 2009, and 2010 Serena Williams tennis season

Williams started 2008 by participating on the U.S. team that won the Hopman Cup with Mardy Fish. At the Australian Open she lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Janković, her fourth straight loss in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In the women's doubles event, she and Venus were defeated in the quarterfinals. Williams withdrew from her next three scheduled tournaments because of an urgent need for dental surgery. Williams then won three consecutive singles *les at Bangalore and her fifth Miami *le, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles *les at this tournament.

At the 2009 Australian Open

Williams won at the Family Circle Cup, her first clay-court *le since the 2002 French Open. Her 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of Berlin. Williams withdrew in Rome in the quarterfinals against Alizé Cornet due to a back injury. Williams was the only former winner of the French Open in the draw, but lost in the third round to Katarina Srebotnik.

At Wimbledon, Williams reached the finals for the first time in four years but lost to her older sister Venus in straight sets, in their first Slam final since 2003. Serena and Venus teamed to win the women's doubles *le in their first Grand Slam women's doubles *le since 2003. Williams played at Stanford, but retired 6–2, 3–1 down with a left knee injury from her semifinal match against qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak. The injury forced her to withdraw from Los Angeles. At the Olympics in Beijing, Williams lost to Dementieva in the quarterfinals. Serena and Venus won the gold medal in doubles, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final. At the US Open, Williams defeated sister Venus, Safina and Jelena Janković in the final. That was her third US Open and ninth Grand Slam singles *le. The victory returned her to the No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2003. At the year-end championships she defeated Safina and lost to Venus in her round-robin matches, but withdrew from her match against Dementieva, citing a stomach muscle injury. She ended 2008 ranked No. 2 and with four singles *les, her strongest performance in both respects since 2003.

Williams began 2009 at the Medibank International losing in the semifinals to Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, she claimed her tenth Grand Slam singles *le by defeating Dinara Safina in the final in 59 minutes. This win returned her to the No. 1 ranking and resulted in her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women's sports, overtaking golfer Annika Sörenstam. In women's doubles, with Venus, they captured the *le for the third time.

At the Open GdF Suez, Williams withdrew before her semifinal with Dementieva because of a knee injury. Serena then played at Dubai, losing to Venus in the last 4.

At the Sony Ericsson Open Williams, hampered with ankle and quad injuries, was upset in the final by Victoria Azarenka. This was the first of four consecutive losses for her, the longest losing streak of her career. She was defeated in her opening matches at Barcelona, Rome, and Madrid. Despite not having won a match on clay in 2009 before the French Open, she lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. This ended her 18-match Grand Slam tournament winning streak. She rebounded at Wimbledon, saving a match point in defeating fourth seeded Dementieva in the semifinals. In the final, Serena defeated her sister Venus to win her third Wimbledon *le and her 11th Grand Slam singles *le. Serena and Venus teamed to win the women's doubles *le at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year, their ninth Grand Slam *le in women's doubles.

As a US Open preparation, Williams played at Cincinnati losing in the third round, followed by a semifinal defeat at the Rogers Cup. At the US Open, she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kim Clijsters amid controversy involving shouting at a line judge when defending match point, an offense which cost Williams the point and consequently the match. She continued in the doubles compe*ion, teaming up with Venus to win their third Grand Slam doubles *le of the year and tenth of their career. Williams won all three of her round-robin matches at the year-end WTA Tour Championships, defeating Venus, Dementieva, and Kuznetsova, saving a match point against Venus. She then advanced to the final, when Wozniacki retired from their semifinal match. In the final, Williams defeated Venus for her second singles *le at this event.

Williams on her way to the singles and doubles *le at the 2010 Australian Open

Williams finished the year ranked No. 1 for the second time in her career, having played in 16 tournaments, more than any other year. She also broke the record previously set by Justine Henin for the most prize money earned by a female tennis player in one year, with Williams earning $6,545,586. For doubles that year, the Williams sisters finished the year ranked No. 2, despite playing only six tournaments together as a pair. Williams had won five Grand Slam tournament *les, putting her total of Grand Slam *les won thus far at 23, and she was consequently named Female Athlete of the Year by the *ociated Press for 2009. Williams was also the ITF World Champion in both the singles and doubles events.

In 2010, Williams's first scheduled tournament was in Sydney, losing in the final to Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, Williams was the defending champion in both singles and doubles. She reached the final and defeated Justine Henin, who had just recently come out of retirement, for her twelfth Grand Slam singles *le. In doubles, Williams and her sister, Venus, successfully defended their *le by defeating Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final.

Williams withdrew with a leg injury from her next few events, and returned at the Rome Masters, losing to Jelena Janković in the semifinals. At Madrid, she fell to Nadia Petrova in the third round but partnered Venus to win the doubles *le.

At the French Open, Williams was defeated by Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. She and Venus were the top seeds in the doubles event and won the *le, defeating Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles *le and improving their doubles ranking to No. 1.

Williams's next tournament was Wimbledon, where she defeated Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final without facing a break point and breaking the serve of Zvonareva three times. She did not lose a set in the tournament.

After the match, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the top five of all the women's tennis players in all of history, which she said that "it's not just about how many Slams you win or how many tournaments you win—it's just your game overall. And she's got all the goods." Serena was the defending champion in doubles with her sister Venus, winning the last two years. They lost in the quarterfinals to Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva. In Munich on July 7, Williams stepped on broken gl* while in a restaurant, and the injury caused her to miss the rest of the year.

Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in singles after six tournaments, and No. 11 in doubles after four tournaments.

On March 2, 2011, she confirmed that she had suffered a hematoma and a pulmonary embolism.

2011–2013: Return to dominance, career golden slam

Main articles: 2011, 2012, and 2013 Serena Williams tennis season

Williams finally made a return to the practice court in March 2011. She made her first appearance on the WTA tour in almost a year in Eastbourne. Williams lost in round two to Vera Zvonareva, in a match that lasted over three hours. Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. She reached the round of 16, where she lost to Marion Bartoli. After the loss, her ranking dropped to 169. Williams won her first *les since her return to tennis triumphing in Stanford and Toronto. At the Western & Southern Open, Williams defeated Lucie Hradecká, only to withdraw the next day, citing a right toe injury. She then played at the US Open going all the way to the final losing to Samantha Stosur, during a match which featured her verbally abusing the chair umpire. The US Open final turned out to be Williams's last match in 2011, and she ended the year ranked No. 12 with two *les and with a 22–3 record for the season. She only participated in six tournaments throughout the season.

Williams won the singles gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Williams started the 2012 season at the Brisbane International, however, during her match against Bojana Jovanovski, she injured her left ankle when serving for the match. As a result, Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament. Next she participated at the Australian Open where she was upset by Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round. After a month layoff, Williams returned to compe*ion in Miami losing in the quarterfinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Williams then won consecutive *les at Charleston and Madrid beating Lucie Šafářová and Victoria Azarenka, but withdrew from her semifinal match against Li Na in Rome citing a lower back injury. Williams suffered her first ever loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open against Virginie Razzano. Williams notched up a 33–1 record for the second half of the season winning five *les in the process. Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles *le, her fourteenth Grand Slam *le; setting a serving record of 24 aces by a woman in a match as well as having the most aces, male or female, during the tournament (102). Williams returned to America to successfully defend her *le in Stanford beating CoCo Vandeweghe in the final. Williams then returned to Wimbledon to represent her country at the Olympic Games where she won gold, defeating Maria Sharapova in a dominating performance. Williams failed to drop more than three games per set en route to winning the medal. Williams undefeated streak ended with a loss in Cincinnati to Angelique Kerber. In New York City, Williams went on to win her fourth US Open singles *le and her 15th career Grand Slam *le overall beating Azarenka in the final. Williams ended the season by competing at the WTA Championships and went undefeated throughout the tournament to win the event for her third *le. Williams was voted WTA Player of the Year for the fourth time. Based on her brilliant show in 2012, Williams was also named International Tennis Federation World Champion. Williams also returned to doubles compe*ions with Venus; in the pair's first tournament since 2010 Wimbledon, they claimed their fifth Wimbledon doubles *le and the 13th grand slam doubles *le. The pair successfully defended their Olympic doubles *le which meant that they became the only tennis players to win four gold medals.

Williams's first tournament of the 2013 season was in Brisbane, where she won the *le without dropping a set. Williams was upset in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by fellow American player Sloane Stephens. By virtue of defeating Petra Kvitová in Doha, Williams returned to the No. 1 position for the sixth time in her career and became the oldest woman in the Open Era to hold the ranking. Williams went on to lose to Victoria Azarenka in the final. In the Miami final, Williams lost a set to Maria Sharapova for the first time since 2008. This setback did not stop Williams who recorded her 70th come-from-behind win. The win made Williams a six-time champion in Miami breaking the record she held with Steffi Graf and became only the fourth woman in the Open Era to have won a tournament at least six times. Williams successfully defended her Charleston *le, winning it for the third time overall. Williams won her fiftieth career singles *le in Madrid, defeating Sharapova in the final. Williams then played Rome, where she won the *le without dropping a set, defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final to take her second *le. Williams only dropped ten games in reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. There, she played Svetlana Kuznetsova and lost her first set of the tournament. In the semifinal, Williams only lost one game when she defeated Sara Errani, something seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert described as the finest woman performance on clay she had ever seen. Williams defeated Sharapova to claim her second Roland Garros *le, her sixteenth grand slam tournament *le overall. She became the fourth woman in the Open Era after Navratilova, Evert and Graf to win each Grand Slam tournament *le on at least two occasions. At Wimbledon, she advanced easily to the fourth round before being upset by eventual finalist Sabine Lisicki in three sets. After Wimbledon, Williams won the Swedish Open by defeating Johanna Larsson in the final, the tournament win marked the first occasion that she had won an International level *le. By winning the tournament this meant that Williams had managed to be undefeated on clay during the season.

Williams winning her fifth US Open *le

Williams won her 3rd Rogers Cup *le in Toronto beating Sorana Cîrstea in the final. Williams reached the final of the Western & Southern Open for the first time but lost to Azarenka. At the US Open, Williams began as top seed and defending champion. She reached the final—rematch of the 2012 final against Azarenka—and won in three sets, capturing her 17th Grand Slam singles *le. Williams became the oldest US Open champion in the Open Era and pushed her career prize money past $50:million. After the US Open, Williams beat Jelena Janković to win the China Open in Beijing for her 10th *le of 2013. Williams went through the WTA Championships undefeated winning the final against Li Na, to become the first person to defend the *le since Justine Henin in 2007. Williams won her 11th *le of 2013 becoming the 8th player to win 11 *les or more in a year and the first since Martina Hingis in 1997. Also, she became the oldest person to win the WTA Championships and 4th player to win it 4 times or more. By winning the championship, Williams became the first woman to win more than $10:million in a season and with her total of $12,385,572, only Rafael Nadal, in 2013, and Novak Djokovic, in 2011, 2012 and 2013, have earned more money in one season.

Williams finished as the year end No. 1 for the third time, becoming the oldest No. 1 player in WTA history. She was also named the 2013 ITF World Champion, the fourth time that she has been given the World Champion's crown. Williams received two prizes at the 2013 ESPY Awards. Williams won Best Female Athlete and Best Female Tennis Player. Williams is just the fourth person to win Best Female Athlete on two occasions and she won Best Female Tennis player for a record sixth time. In late December 2013, Williams capped off her year by receiving the *ociated Press 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award, her third AP award after 2002 and 2009. Only two women, Chris Evert and Babe Didrikson, have been chosen more often as AP Athlete of the Year since the annual awards were first handed out in 1931.

2014–2015: Second 'Serena Slam'

Main articles: 2014 and 2015 Serena Williams tennis season

Williams defended her *le at the Brisbane International by defeating No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. At the Australian Open she ended up losing to former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the fourth round. At Dubai, Williams lost her semifinal match to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. Williams next headed to the Miami Open where she won her record seventh *le with a straight-sets victory over No. 2 Li Na. Williams lost to Jana Čepelová in the second round of the Family Circle Cup. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open before withdrawing with a left thigh injury. Williams won her third *le of the season at the Rome. She was then handed the worst loss of her Grand Slam tournament career by Garbiñe Muguruza at the second round of the French Open, who defeated Serena losing just four games in two sets. Alizé Cornet defeated Williams for the second time in the year in the third round of Wimbledon, thus handing Williams her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005. Serena was then forced to withdraw from the doubles event alongside sister Venus while trailing 0–3 in the second round. A disoriented Serena hit 4 consecutive doubles faults and was having trouble with both her ball toss and movement before being removed from what has been described as one of the most unusual scenes ever seen in tennis.

Williams rebounded by winning 19 out of her next 20 matches (losing only to sister Venus in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup). This streak include *les at the Bank of the West Cl*ic as well as her first Western & Southern Open *le and her third consecutive and sixth overall US Open singles *le which she won without having dropped a set. With this victory Williams tied Chris Evert for most singles *les won by a woman at the US Open in the Open Era. Williams also tied Evert and Navratilova's 18 Grand Slam singles *les won in the Open Era. By virtue of having won both the US Open and the US Open Series, Williams collected $4,000,000 – the biggest payday in tennis history. At the Wuhan Open a viral illness forced her to retire while up a break in the first set against Alizé Cornet. Cornet thus became the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to record three victories over Williams in one year. At the China Open Williams retired prior to her quarterfinal match versus Samantha Stosur. At the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore Williams advanced to the final for the third consecutive year despite having equaled her career-worst loss in her second round robin match versus Simona Halep. Williams won her fifth WTA Finals *le by avenging her loss to Halep in the championship match for her seventh *le of the year. Williams finished the year ranked No. 1 for the fourth time in her career. She held the No. 1 ranking for the entire calendar year, a feat not accomplished since Steffi Graf in 1996. She was also voted WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion for a third consecutive year (sixth overall).

Williams began the 2015 season by representing the United States alongside John Isner at the Hopman Cup. The American pair lost the final to the Poland. At the Australian Open Williams defeated Maria Sharapova for the 16th consecutive time to claim her 6th Australian Open singles *le and 19th career Grand Slam singles *le, winning the *le on her third match point in the second set. With this victory Williams surp*ed both, Evert and Navratilova, for second most Grand Slam singles *les won in the Open Era. The *le was also her sixth Grand Slam singles *le since turning 30 years of age, three more than the next closest to do so (Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova with three each). She is the only player in history to win all four Grand Slams at least once after having turned 30. The following weekend, Serena and sister Venus traveled to Buenos Aires to face Argentina in a World Group II tie for Fed Cup. She played and won her only match against María Irigoyen to help Team USA to a 4–1 win over Argentina. Williams announced that she would be competing at the Indian Wells Masters ending her 14-year boycott of the event. Upon her return Williams received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her first match in straight sets. She reached the semifinals, where she was due to face No. 3, Simona Halep, for a place in the final, but was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. By virtue of having defeated Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, Williams became only the eighth woman in the Open Era to record 700 match wins in her career. This also made her one of only three active players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, others being Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In the semifinals she won against Halep to advance to her tenth final at the event where she won a record eighth *le and extended her winning streak to 21 by beating Carla Suárez Navarro.

Williams celebrating her third French Open *le

As preparation for the clay court season (and to ensure her eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics), Williams travelled to Brindisi, Italy, to face Italy's team for a place in the Fed Cup's World Group. Williams lost the decisive doubles match alongside Alison Riske to Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta, and as a result the United States team were relegated to World Group II. It was Williams's first loss in the Fed Cup. She maintained her perfect record in singles by defeating Camila Giorgi and Errani. The week of April 20 marked Williams's 114th consecutive week ranked No. 1, the third-longest run in WTA history, behind Steffi Graf's 186 weeks and Navratilova's 156. Williams suffered her first defeat of the season in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open to No. 4, Petra Kvitová. This loss ended a 27-match winning streak for Williams as well as a 50-match winning streak at Premier-Mandatory events, and also a 19-match winning streak at the particular event. Williams played one match at the 2015 InterNational Socialist German Workers' Partyonali BNL d'Italia before withdrawing from the tournament with an elbow injury.

By virtue of having defeated Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the French Open, Williams became the first woman in the Open Era to win 50 matches at all four of the Grand Slams. Williams then defeated Sloane Stephens to reach her 40th Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. Williams won her next match easily, but had to come back from a set down in the semifinals versus Timea Bacsinszky for the fourth time in five matches to reach the final. She would go on to defeat Lucie Šafářová from the Czech Republic in three sets to win her third French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles *le.

The win made Williams only the third person in history to win each Grand Slam at least three times, joining Margaret Court and Steffi Graf. She is the first player to win three straight Grand Slams since she did it herself during the Serena Slam. She also became the first player to win the Australian-French Open double since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.

Williams completed her second "Serena Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a row) by winning the 2015 Wimbledon Championships – her 6th Wimbledon and 21st Grand Slam singles *le overall. Her path to victory at Wimbledon was particularly challenging. She was down a double break in the third round versus Heather Watson and two points from defeat twice before rallying for the win and becoming the first player to qualify for the WTA Finals (the earliest that a player had qualified since the event switched to the round-robin format in 2003). Williams then defeated three former No. 1 players–Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova—in succession to advance to the final. Awaiting her there was 21-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza, who had previously handed Williams the worst Grand Slam tournament defeat of her career at the 2014 French Open. Williams defeated Muguruza in a tight two-setter.

The victory made Williams the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a grand slam singles *le, in addition to having the distinction of being the oldest ladies' grand slam singles champion of all time. It also was her eighth consecutive victory in Grand Slam singles finals appearances, breaking Steffi Graf's Open Era record of seven from 1995 through 1999 and, on the men's side, tying Pete Sampras's Open Era record of eight from 1995 through 2000. Her 21st Grand Slam singles *les equaled the tally of the rest of the women's tour, combined. The week of July 13 marked the first time in WTA history that the No. 1 player had more than twice as many points as No. 2. Following her win at Wimbledon, Williams was awarded her 7th ESPY for Best Female Tennis Player.

Williams played one match at the Swedish Open in Båstad before withdrawing with an elbow injury. She was the defending champion at the Bank of the West Cl*ic but withdrew from the tournament in order for her elbow to get better. Williams had her 19 match winning streak ended by 18-year-old Swiss Belinda Bencic, the No. 20, in three tight sets in the semifinals of the Canadian Open. It was her second defeat of the year and first on hard courts since the 2014 WTA Finals. The next week Williams defended her *le at the Western & Southern Open with a straight sets victory over No. 3 Simona Halep for her 69th WTA *le, breaking a tie with Evonne Goolagong for standalone fifth-most WTA *les won. Williams's attempt at capturing the "Grand Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar year) came to an end in the semifinals of the US Open, where she lost to Roberta Vinci in three sets. The loss has been described by some as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Nonetheless, Williams secured the year-end No. 1 ranking with her results at the tournament. On October 1, Williams called an end to her season, stating that she had been injured for most of the year and wanted to address her fitness issues. Prior to the announcement, coach Patrick Mouratoglou hinted that Williams might not play again in 2015 due to a lack of motivation and disappointment following her loss at the Open. On October 5, Williams surp*ed Chris Evert for third-most weeks ranked world No. 1. Williams held the No. 1 ranking the entire season for the second consecutive year, finishing there for the fifth time in her career. She was voted WTA Player of the Year for the seventh time in her career. On December 14, Sports Illustrated announced Williams as their Sportsperson of the Year. She thus became the third solo woman, and first since 1983, to receive the award. Williams was also named ITF World Champion for the sixth time in her career. Soon after, it was announced that she was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the *ociated Press for the fourth time.

2016: Open Era Grand Slam record

Main article: 2016 Serena Williams tennis season

Williams withdrew from the Hopman Cup after retiring from her singles match against Australia Gold with inflammation of her left knee. Her next tournament was the Australian Open, where she was the No. 1 seed and defending champion. She reached the final without dropping a set, including wins over No. 5, Maria Sharapova, and No. 4, Agnieszka Radwańska, and faced first time Grand Slam finalist Angelique Kerber. She was considered the heavy favorite to win the *le, as she had never lost an Australian Open final or semifinal. She also dominated the head-to-head against Kerber, having lost only once in six meetings and having not lost a set to her in four years. Williams lost the final in three sets and Kerber won her first Grand Slam *le. This marked Williams's first-ever loss in the final of the Australian Open, as well as her first three-set loss in the final of a Grand Slam. She had previously been 6–0 and 8–0 respectively.

Serena at the 2016 Wimbledon, winning her 22nd Grand Slam *le

The week of February 15 marked Williams's 157th consecutive week ranked No. 1, p*ing Navratilova's mark of 156 to have the second-longest run in WTA history behind Steffi Graf's 186. She competed in Indian Wells as the No. 1 seed. She reached her first final here since winning in 2001 and before boycotting the event, by defeating Simona Halep in the quarterfinals and Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. She did not drop a set en route to the final. Williams was upset by No. 13 seed Victoria Azarenka, whom she had defeated the last five times the pair had met, in straight sets. This marked the first time since 2004 where Williams lost two consecutive finals. She next played the Miami Open as the defending champion. She lost in the fourth round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. This marked her first loss here since 2012 and ended her 20 match winning streak in Miami. This was also her earliest exit here since 2000, where she lost in the same round. During the clay court swing, Williams withdrew from Madrid but entered Rome. She beat Anna-Lena Friedsam and Christina McHale to progress to the quarterfinals where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova to avenge her loss in Miami. She then went on to beat Irina-Camelia Begu and Madison Keys to win her 70th career WTA *le and to win her first *le of the year. This was her third Rome *le in four years and fourth overall.

At the French Open, Williams dropped only one set en route to the final. She defeated Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinals despite being five points away from losing. She then beat surprise semifinalist Kiki Bertens to reach her fourth French Open final where she faced Garbiñe Muguruza in a repeat of last year's Wimbledon final where Williams was victorious. The result was not the same as that Wimbledon final as Williams lost to Muguruza in straight sets. With this loss, Williams had lost two consecutive Grand Slam finals for the first time in her career. On top of failing to equal Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles *les, Williams also completed the Career Grand Slam runner-up set with this loss.

At Wimbledon, Williams only lost one set en route to the final where she faced Angelique Kerber in a rematch of their Australian Open final earlier in the year. This time, Williams defeated Kerber in straight sets to finally equal Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slams in the Open Era. That was Williams's first Grand Slam *le of the year, as well as her 71st career WTA *le overall. In what was a brilliant serving performance, Williams only faced one break point in the whole match against Kerber which she saved with an ace. Later that day, Williams partnered with sister Venus to win their sixth Wimbledon doubles *le and 14th doubles Grand Slam *le overall, keeping their perfect record at Grand Slam doubles finals intact. On July 24, 2016, Williams withdrew from Rogers Cup citing a shoulder inflammation injury. She next participated in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she was the defending gold medalist in both singles and doubles and was the heavy favourite to retain those *les. Partnering with her sister Venus in the doubles, they suffered a shock exit in the first round, losing to the Czech duo of Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová, which ended their career record of 15–0 dating back to the 2000 Olympics. In singles, after defeating Daria Gavrilova and Alizé Cornet in the first two rounds, Williams faced Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the third round in what was a rematch of this year's French Open fourth round, but lost to the Ukrainian, bringing an end to her Olympics campaign. Days after the Olympics, Williams took a late wildcard for the Western & Southern Open, where she was the defending champion, but then decided to withdraw due to concerns from the same shoulder injury/inflammation from earlier in the summer.

The week of September 5, 2016, marked Williams's 186th consecutive week ranked No. 1, equalling Steffi Graf's record for longest run in WTA history. In the semifinals of the US Open, Williams lost to Karolína Plíšková. Having won the US Open, Angelique Kerber became the No. 1, ending Williams's No. 1 streak. Williams also pulled out of the WTA Finals due to a shoulder injury.

2017: Australian Open victory and pregnancy

Main article: 2017 Serena Williams tennis season

Williams started her 2017 season by participating in the WTA Auckland Open for the first time in her career. She defeated Pauline Parmentier to win her first match since the US Open. In the second round, she lost to Madison Brengle. At the Australian Open, she beat former and present top 10 players Belinda Bencic, Lucie Šafářová, Johanna Konta among others to reach her 8th Australian Open final. On January 28, 2017, she won the Australian Open for an Open Era record seventh time, defeating her sister, Venus. It was her 23rd Grand Slam singles *le, surp*ing Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22. It was the first time in the Open Era that two players aged 35 or older had competed in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The win ensured her return to the No. 1 ranking. Williams subsequently withdrew from the Indian Wells and Miami Opens, citing a knee injury.

On April 19, 2017, Williams revealed that she was 20 weeks pregnant and would miss the remainder of the season. The timing of her announcement led to the conclusion that she would have been roughly eight to nine weeks pregnant when she won the Australian Open. In interviews, she said that she intended to return to tennis after her pregnancy, saying that she had an "outrageous plan" of competing in the 2018 Australian Open.

On September 1, 2017, Williams gave birth to a daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. She had a cesarean-section delivery due to a pulmonary embolism during labor. She suffered another pulmonary embolism after giving birth, leaving her bedridden for six weeks and delaying her return to training.

On December 30, 2017, Williams played her first match since giving birth, an exhibition match at the World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, losing to reigning French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko.

2018: Return to tennis, Wimbledon and US Open runner up

On January 5, 2018, Williams withdrew from the upcoming Australian Open, citing a lack of sufficient preparation in the wake of her pregnancy. In February, after overcoming her pregnancy-induced health problems, she returned to the tennis court with her sister. The pair lost to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs (Netherlands) in the Fed Cup's first round on February 11. Despite saying she was 100% ready to come back to tennis, Williams suffered back to back early exits at Indian Wells and Miami, losing in the third round at Indian Wells to her sister Venus and the first round at Miami to 2018 Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka.

Williams at the 2018 French Open

Williams made her return to Grand Slam tennis at the 2018 French Open, playing singles and doubles with her sister Venus. In the first round, she defe