Serena | Lifestyle

by DeniseISmithson

Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Serena Williams is currently the top ranked female professional tennis player in the world. Only 27 years old, Williams is also the current US and Australian Open singles champion, the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles in total (10 in singles, 8 women's doubles and 2 mixed doubles) and is the most recent player to have held all four of the Grand Slam titles at the same time. Serena Williams is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest athletes ever to pick up a racket, being named the 17th best athlete by Tennis magazine in 2005. She still has much of her career ahead of her; and along with her sister Venus, she is one of the most popular players in the world of tennis.

Williams is the youngest of the family's five daughters. She was born in Saginaw, MI but moved with her family to Los Angeles while still very young. Her father Richard wanted to see his daughters achieve success as tennis players and began coaching them himself, playing on Compton's public courts. Out of the Williams sisters, Serena and her sister Venus were especially talented players; Serena in fact won her first tournament while not yet five - by the time she reached the age of ten, she had won no less than forty-six tournaments!

The Williams family chose to home school their children; and fearing that they would be exposed to the ugliness of racism, decided to stop sending the sisters to national junior's tennis tournaments. Serena was sent to a Florida tennis school operated by the professional player Rick Macci. While at the school, she often trained with Andy Roddick. In one practice match, she even defeated this seasoned player.

Through the years of her intense training, Serena became an outstanding athlete. Although she is primarily a baseline player, she builds her game around taking immediate control of the rallies, making her known as an aggressive player in court. She delivers powerful and consistent serve, return serve and groundstrokes on both forehand and backhand wing. With her playing style, she consistently delivers powerful and smooth motion serves, which was noted as the best in the women's game. Her serves even earned the respects of the crowd of the WTA tour. Serena frequently hits at 120 mph. she even made record with her 127 and 129 mph serve in 2008 at Charleston. Her capability of overpowering her opponents when returning serve is absolute with her ability to hit flat and topspin serves on both corners of the service box.

Aside from her playing style, Serena is also known for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. Her family has opened a clothing line named Aneres. She also made several television and movie appearances. She also posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She eventually made a lucrative career as a product endorser. In May 2004, Serena William's partnership with Nike debuted custom-designed sports apparel. Serena also received the Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundations in 2003 for her participation in the breast cancer drives. She also had her charities to spend time with off the court. In November 2008, she funded the construction and completion of a secondary school in Kenya.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice.

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