Legend of the Game: Profile of The Williams Sisters

Having one professional athlete in a family is rare – having two professional American athlete siblings is almost unthinkable!  Serena and Venus Williams (The Williams Sisters) beat those odds, however, and have both previously held the number 1 ranking for tennis players.  Currently, they are ranked two and three in the world.

Serena and Venus have played each other many times in Grand Slam singles tournaments, as well as other professional tournaments.  They are the only women during the open era to have played one another in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals.  Their head to heard series is currently tied 10 to 10.

Serena Williams

Serena was born in 1981.  She is known for breaking records in the game of professional tennis!  She held the World No. 1 ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association on four different occasions.  She won 2 Olympic gold medals in women’s doubles.  Throughout the course of her career, she has won more prize money than any other female athlete (ever!), with more than $24 million awarded.

Serena has won 20 Grand Slam titles, including 10 titles in singles, 2 in mixed doubles, and 8 in doubles.  She is the reigning Australian Open singles champion as well as the US Open champion.  In fact, Serena is the most recent athlete, male or female, to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time.  She is the only female to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments.

Venus Williams

Venus was born in 1980, and previously held the World No. 1 American tennis player ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association.  Venus turned professional in 1994, and since then has won 56 titles including 17 Grand Slam titles – 7 in singles, 2 in mixed doubles, and 8 in women’s doubles.  Other than Reginald Doherty, Venus has won three Olympic gold medals, including one in singles and two in women’s doubles – more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player.  Venus is second only to her sister in prize money earnings, winning over $22 million.

Off the courts, Venus is the Chief Executive Office of an interior design firm called V Starr Interiors.  The company has designed the Olympic athletes apartments as part of the US package for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games in New York City, designed the set for the PBS show, Tavis Smiley Show, as well as residences and businesses in and around Palm Beach, Florida.  She has also teamed with the athletic clothing retailer, Steve & Barry’s, to launch her own fashion lined called EleVen in 2007.