Constantly ranked as the number one woman tennis player Serena Williams is till date the only female player to have won more than 450 million of price money. Apart from winning 56 singles championships and 22 doubles championships, she also emerged victorious in 2002, 2008 and 2012 Olympics by winning the gold medal. Being accustomed to the world of Tennis from the age of 4 years, Serena is famous worldwide by her first name itself. Her sheer excellence in playing tennis is proved by the fact that she broke her own 2012 US OPEN victory record while she played for the 2013 US OPEN. Though Serena started coaching with Rick Macci when she was nine but before that and even till date she is home coached by her parents. Serena displayed her immensely fast serving skills (128.6 mph) in the 2013 Australian Open when she was ranked second in terms serving speed just behind her sister Venus. Being a strong offensive as well as a strong defensive player at the same time, Serena possesses an ability to stand tall in unexpected situations with the help of her mental and physical strength. Another something unusual about Serena is that despite being Jehovah’s Witness which practices no voting, she has expressed her support in favour of the present President of the United States of America; Barack Obama.
Serena Williams
Apart from making her mark in the field of tennis, Serena Williams is known for her interest in philanthropy. The Serena Williams Foundation counselling, care, assistance and also fulfils all the needs of the American youth affected by violent crimes. The foundation also aims at providing high quality education as well as trade and business assistance to the underprivileged youth around the world as a result of which they can create a secure future for themselves. The Serena Williams Foundation is actually aiming to make the world a better place to live in for the less privileged youth. She has set up Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya and she is also an active participant in breast cancer awareness program as well as at- risk youth programs. She also abandoned the final day of preparation at the 2010 Australian Open in order to form a charity event the proceeds of which went to the Haiti earthquake victims in the same year.
As an epitome of beauty, style, courage and power Serena adds grace to all endeavours outside the world of tennis be it television, philanthropy, film or fashion. She is the Tennis Goddess who despite being surrounded by a couple of controversies has managed to remain at the top by struggling her way right from the bottom. At a time when most of the tennis players would consider backing considering their injuries, Serena with the help of her strong will and determination continued to rule the charts every now and then. Her solo autobiography “On the Line” published in 2009 tells all about her good as well as bad experiences in her journey to the top. The way through which Williams struggled herself to the top serves as an inspiration to the youth thus making them believe that hard work, determination and the unending will to achieve your dream is possible. All an individual needs is a never give- up attitude like Serena and success will be a by product.
