Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 2. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on four separate occasions. She will regain the World Number 1 ranking for the fifth time in her career on 2 November 2009. She is the reigning Australian
Open and Wimbledon singles champion and the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open Doubles Champion and has won 23 Grand Slam titles: 11 in singles, ten 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. Since this ranking however Williams has won an additional 5 grand slam singles titles. Williams reached 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