Biography
Serena Williams is an American tennis player, four-time Olympic champion, winner of the non-calendar Grand Slam and career Golden Slam. Younger sister of world champion Venus Williams.
Tennis player Serena Williams
Serena was born in September 1981 in the US state of Michigan. But only the first years of the girl’s life passed in the town of Saginaw. Later, the family changed their place of residence more than once, moving either to California or Florida. It must be said that Serena and Venus were the youngest of 5 daughters. The three older sisters – Yetunda, Isha and Lindreya – are maternal half-sisters.
World tennis legend Serena Jameka Williams has been preparing to ascend to the sporting Olympus since early childhood. The youngest daughters, Serena and Venus, were prepared for this by their father, Richard Williams. He brought his daughters to the court when they were 3 and 4 years old. First of all, the girls learned how to hit the ball. Richard did not make concessions for their young age, but immediately gave his daughters racquets for adults. Since then, the father has constantly supervised the girls’ training process, even when the athletes officially had other mentors. He didn’t stop coaching girls even when he divorced his wife in 1999.
Serena and Venus Williams
After the family moved to Compton, California, Serena and her sister entered the Mackey Tennis Academy. From early childhood, Serena showed a persistent fighting spirit. In secret from her father, the girl at the age of 8 signed up for the tournament with Venus, where she took only second place, while her older sister won the prize cup. In order not to upset Serena, Venus swapped awards with her, saying that she always loved silver more than gold. Serena still remembers the noble act of her older sister.
Serena in the news
Serena is often attacked because of her powerful appearance, not only by fans of her rivals, but also by tennis professionals. In early May, Serena withdrew from the competition in Madrid, saying that she had not fully recovered. But many believe that the reason was a grudge against one of the owners of the tournament. Former Romanian tennis player Ion Tiriac a month earlier reproached Williams for being too plump: “Serena is already 36 years old. And she weighs 90 kg! I would like to see tennis players like Steffi Graf.”
Serena has been getting the worst of it from the Romanians lately. Former world number one Ilie Nastase has repeatedly accused Serena of doping sins, citing her overly muscular figure. At the same time, the athlete herself always categorically denied any such accusations, although at different periods of her career she took prohibited drugs - strictly for medical reasons, using the therapeutic authorization system.
The President of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, also distinguished himself: on the TV show “Evening Urgant” he called Serena and Venus “Williams brothers”, for which he was suspended from working in international tennis for a year.
But Serena herself is also sharp-tongued. And not only responds to offenders, but also speaks out to others.
Sometimes it's even too spicy. Serena had serious rows with the judges twice. In 2009, she threatened the line referee to “shove the ball down his throat,” and in 2011, she cursed at the head referee, Eva Asderaki, who punished Serena for excessively showing emotions in the game.
Serena knows how to remain interesting to the media off the court. Scandal, commenting on high-profile events and thereby creating new ones - already with their name in the articles. In 2013, Rolling Stone quoted Serena’s stance on the incident with an American girl being raped at a party and the guys punished for it: “Do you think it’s fair what they got? They committed a great stupidity, but... if you are 16 years old, and you get so drunk... It could have been worse. She's lucky." This statement turned into a big scandal.
Serena knows very well what PR is and that it can never be bad.
Tennis
From the very first days, the academy’s teachers noted the young tennis player’s promise. The girl has already developed her own playing style - fast-paced, assertive and unpredictable. During her matches, Serena Williams literally swept her opponents off the court.
Serena and Venus Williams in childhood
The girl took an active part in various competitions for juniors. Even then, the countdown of her triumphant victories began. The athlete confidently moved into adult tennis.
At the age of 14, the girl became a professional player. At this point, Serena left the academy. Only the father was involved in the preparation. Subsequent events resembled a real miracle.
Serena Williams on the court
In 1997, when Serena Williams was only 304th in the world rankings, the girl managed to beat the strongest tennis player of that time, Monica Seles. Another incredible victory soon followed - over the athlete Marie Pierce. This allowed Serena to get into the top 100 world tennis players. From that moment on, the athlete became a regular participant in WTA tournaments.
The following year, an African-American woman appeared at the Grand Slam tournament. After several rapid victories, Williams, who is 175 cm tall and weighs 70 kg, took 20th place in the world ranking of the Tennis Association. A few months later, the star managed to win the Grand Slam tournament. Serena managed to accomplish this at Wimbledon, at the mixed doubles tournament. The girl played together with Belarusian Maxim Mirny. With him she snatched victory at the US Open.
Serena Williams with the trophy
In singles, Serena Williams managed to win an impressive victory in 1999, leaving behind her strongest rivals Lindsay Davenport and Martin Hingis. As a result of this brilliant victory, the tennis player raised the United States Open Cup over her head.
From that moment on, Serena's leadership at the highest level tournaments became common practice. Williams won the Grand Slam tournament 32 times. Together with her sister, she achieved Olympic gold three times. She managed to win the singles competition.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is the only athlete who managed to regain her former positions after a long break in her sports biography. In 2003, the tennis player experienced a huge shock due to the death of her half-sister. For 8 months the girl could not return to the court. And when she came out and began to regain lost ground, she received an unfortunate injury. And again a season-long pass.
But Serena is not called a legend for nothing. Williams found the strength to fully recover and again took first place in the WTA world rankings.
Serena and Venus Williams at the Rio Olympics
The Williams sisters expectedly took part in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Unexpectedly for the fans, they lost in the first round of the tournament to the pair of Lucia Safarova and Barbora Strycova. Serena was also disappointed in the singles tournament; the athlete lost to Elina Svitolina.
In 2020, a doping scandal erupted due to the exposure of the activities of the WADA association by the Fancy Bears hacker group. The documents provided showed that the Williams sisters had been using illegal drugs for a long time. WADA regularly issued doping licenses to tennis players.
Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams
According to the data provided by the hackers, Serena Williams has been taking the drugs oxycodone, hydromorphone, prednisolone and others since 2010, which were recommended to the girl for medical reasons. Serena Williams herself did not deny this fact, arguing that taking medications was due to the presence of chronic diseases. At the same time, Maria Sharapova was disqualified for 2 years for using mildronate.
Serena Williams gave birth to a daughter. Everything you need to know
The best tennis player in the world became a mother at the age of 35. Serena Williams gave birth to a daughter in the midst of the US Open. Serena did not hide from journalists during pregnancy. On the contrary, she led a very public lifestyle. We congratulate the young mother and tell you all the details about the main tennis event of the year that happened off the court.
Harmony in relationships
Before the tournament, the tennis community discussed the personal life of another star, Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian gave birth to a child out of wedlock and, instead of the US Open, is wandering around the courts, sharing the rights to her son with her former boyfriend. At first glance, Serena has order and harmony in her personal life.
The child’s father is an American businessman, founder of Reddit with Armenian roots, Alexis Ohanian. History is silent about how the lovers met, but Serena really liked the social site Reddit, where users can exchange information. Williams has said more than once that this is her favorite app. It was there that the lovers announced their engagement.
By the way, Alexis chose a very unusual ring.
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A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jan 2, 2017 at 1:06pm PST
“Serena is a person with a very big heart. She gives herself to everything she does. Friendship, love, I’m sure the same will happen with motherhood soon,”
- Ohanyan admired.
The young businessman's fortune is estimated at five million dollars. Several times he was included in the Forbes list of the richest entrepreneurs under 35 years of age.
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A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Apr 17, 2017 at 6:29am PDT
Pregnancy is like a reality show
Serena Williams did not close herself off from the public while pregnant. On the contrary, Williams literally never left magazine covers. Williams is the Kim Kardashian of tennis. Serena did not go on the court, but she was still more popular than any tennis player. The public was blown away by her photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine. The American appeared in a very frank manner, posing almost naked. Fans of her talent, of course, appreciated it, but many thought that Serena went too far, showing off her body.
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A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jun 27, 2017 at 7:57am PDT
In addition to the photo shoot, Serena was a frequent guest on TV shows and led an active lifestyle almost before giving birth. I even trained while seven months pregnant.
Tiny daughter
Williams and Ohanyan decided not to find out the sex of the child, leaving the intrigue for themselves. On the evening of September 1, it became known that the American woman gave birth to a daughter. The child's weight was 3.09 kilograms. The child was born completely healthy. The athlete feels fine, although she has not yet gotten around to social networks.
The information was confirmed by Serena Williams' permanent coach Patrick Mouratoglou. He jokingly wrote that Serena will soon have hard work to return to the court. In the meantime, Serena will enjoy the joys of motherhood for six weeks.
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A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jan 30, 2017 at 6:31am PST
Reaction of colleagues and Tarpishchev
One of the very first to congratulate Serena Williams was the President of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev. The manager expressed admiration for the fact that Serena decided to give birth to a child and wished her to return to the court as quickly as possible.
__“I congratulate her with pleasure on the birth of her daughter and wish, of course, that Serena returns to the court, because great athletes like her are a piece of goods at all times. I think that based on the totality of results, it is unlikely that anyone will achieve what Serena achieved in her career with her skill. People like her are born almost once in a century, and I would like to wish that my daughter would be like her mother and continue the sports dynasty,” __ R-Sport quotes Tarpishchev as saying.
In 2014, Tarpishchev had a different opinion about Williams. Then his reputation took a serious hit when he called Serena and Venus the “Williams brothers.” The WTA did not appreciate the joke, and Serena recognized the statement as offensive.
Among the hail of congratulations that fell on Serena, the bold joke of the world's first racket Garbine Muguruza, without five minutes, stands out on the women's tour.
“A girl? I hope my daughter won’t play tennis,”
- Muguruza joked.
Many joke that the girl was born to the reigning Australian Open champion, as Williams was already two months pregnant when she won the Grand Slam in January.
When will Serena return?
Williams plans to spend only six weeks with the baby. Next is a return to hard training and tournaments. Although Mouratoglou was joking, Serena herself is serious. The legend plans to play at the Australian Open in 2020. At that time, Serena will be 36 years old, but it is unlikely that the number in her passport will prevent her from being the main contender for victory.
In principle, Williams has already broken every imaginable record, but she probably wants to take aim at Margaret Court's achievement. The Australian won 24 Grand Slam titles during her career. Serena is 23 so far.
It’s unlikely that anything will stop her from performing successfully for another couple of years, given the level of the women’s tour right now. Even if Williams cannot return, there will be no tragedy. At home, Serena will now always have her main trophy waiting for her.
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A post shared by Alexis Ohanian Sr. (@alexisohanian) on Jul 18, 2017 at 5:59am PDT
Personal life
Serena Williams managed to achieve success not only in sports. The girl also succeeded as a designer for the sports clothing brand Aneres. The world tennis star enters into lucrative contracts with the famous companies Reebok, Puma and Nike.
Serena Williams
The athlete is also known as an actress. A cinematic biography of Serena Williams includes more than 10 titles of feature and documentary films. The first racket of the world was also involved as a voice actress. The characters from the cartoons “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra” speak in the voice of the athlete.
Serena Williams' personal life is also busy. The girl had affairs with several famous representatives of American show business and athletes. There is a rumored connection with the famous football player Bryant McKinney. After breaking up with him, Serena dated actor Jackie Long.
Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams
At one time, according to media reports, the name Williams was closely associated with the owner of the tennis academy and businessman Patrick Mouratoglou. It is noteworthy that the African-American woman previously stated that she could not imagine herself next to a man whose skin color would be lighter than hers. But Patrick turned out to be ethnic Greek.
In 2020, public attention was again focused on the private life of Serena Williams. The athlete did not hide her pregnancy, as evidenced by Serena’s photos on her Instagram. The tennis player’s chosen one was the creator of the social network Reddit, Alexis Ohanyan, who is of Armenian origin. Daughter Alexis Olympia was born on September 1, 2020.
Serena Williams with her husband and daughter
After the birth of the child, two months later, the couple got married. The gala event, which took place in New Orleans, was attended by Ciara and Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, and Eva Longoria. The rights to an exclusive photo shoot of the event were acquired by Vogue magazine.
Serena Williams' husband - photo
A long-term relationship connected the athlete Serena Williams with another professional athlete, football player Bryant McKinney. This romance eventually fell apart, and after that, for quite a long period, she was credited with relationships with various prominent representatives from the world of sports and show business, but none of them became the athlete’s husband.
It is not known for certain when exactly Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian first met, but in 2020, fans noticed that the athlete was pregnant and did not hide it.
Soon, in the same year, her only child at the moment was born - daughter Alexis Olympia. And in the same year, two months after giving birth, Serena Williams married her husband.
Serena Williams and her husband had a lavish wedding in New Orleans. Among the guest stars were many celebrities, including singers Beyoncé and Ciara, as well as socialite Kim Kardashian. At the same time, photos of Serena Williams’ husband hugging the athlete in a wedding dress quickly spread across the World Wide Web and became the subject of sincere admiration among Serena’s fans.
Perhaps interesting: husband of Kate Beckinsale, husband of Anne Hathaway.
Serena Williams now
Serena Williams planned to take to the court at the end of 2020. But the loss to Jelena Ostapenko at the tournament in Abu Dhabi showed that Serena is not yet in the shape to participate in the competition. The athlete decided to skip the Australian Open. But already in March 2020 she competed at the WTA tournament - BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Tennis player Serena Williams
Before the competition, Serena Williams' husband gave his wife a surprise. On the way to the stadium, the businessman placed billboards with photographs of Serena and her newborn daughter. Each shield was labeled "Best Mom Ever." Alexis' confession touched Serena, and the athlete even managed to beat Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan and Kiki Bertens from the Netherlands in two matches. But in the third round, Serena’s sister Venus became her opponent, and she won the set.
Now Serena Williams continues to participate in tennis competitions. At the tournament in Miami, the tennis player was again disappointed: the American failed to overcome the first round, in which she lost to the Japanese athlete Naomi Osaka.
The wedding of Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian: exclusive photos
Yesterday, the famous tennis player of African-American origin Sirena Williams married her lover, the founder of the social information network Reddit Alexis Ohanian (see photo).
The wedding was postponed for several months due to the bride's "interesting" situation. As soon as the newlywed was able to regain her previous shape after childbirth, the couple decided to solemnly celebrate their union in the city of New Orleans. This is a place of incredible beauty, and where else are lovers allowed to shout about their love!
The bride did not get carried away with exclusive wedding dresses, preferring a relatively simple robe with a long train. The groom matched his betrothed, choosing a modest black and white men's outfit. Their little daughter was also present at the wedding of the famous Sirena Williams and Alexis Ohanian - see photo.
Also present among the guests were the parents of the newlyweds and their closest friends - they all unanimously repeated that the happy bride had a smile on her face all evening.
Remembering the wedding, the guests more than once spoke about the first wedding dance, which made a strong impression on everyone. The fact is that the famous tennis player changed her classic wedding dress to another, brighter and, one might say, revealing outfit.
Sirena Williams took to the dance floor in a short white outfit, the skirt of which was decorated with numerous decorative elements. In combination with high heels and pulled back hair, it looked incredibly feminine and seductive - many men at that moment envied Alexis Ohanian, who had been waiting for this wedding for so long (see photo).
Almost immediately after the ceremony, the man in love dedicated an incredibly sweet and touching post to his wife on Instagram, which instantly went viral on social networks and became direct proof that men do not hide their feelings and are not shy about talking about their feelings.
Ohanyan wrote that his woman is not only a wonderful athlete, but also a loving mother and faithful wife. Alexis is incredibly glad that he will spend the rest of his life with a woman who is able to turn every new day into a little fairy tale, give hope and understanding that they did not meet in this world in vain.
“Everything I’ve done for 34 years of my life pales in comparison to this today’s event,” the new husband shared his feelings.
Serena also admitted that it was Alexis who was able to change her life, helping her understand what she had really been missing for so many years and what she needed to strive for in the future. To a happy family, boundless love and loyalty to each other.
But despite this, the young woman refuses to remain on maternity leave for a long time. She doesn’t want to become a “harassed housewife,” sit on a man’s neck and cook lunches and dinners all day long.
Already now, tennis player Williams has resumed her sports activities, started going to the gym in order to quickly regain her previous figure and go on the court with a racket and the desire to win.
We remind you that this is not the first romance in the life of the first racket of the world; the tabloids attributed the black athlete with countless relationships with the most famous people. It is also known that Selena and Maria Sharapova have been squabbling for a long time due to their unrequited love for the owner of the tennis academy, Patrick Maratoglou.
The Russian tennis player, who failed to defeat the African-American woman in a fair fight, began to advertise her relationship with her former lover in every possible way. black athlete. On this basis, they clashed more than once on social networks, exchanging mutual insults with enviable regularity.
But now, apparently, there is no reason to hate each other. After all, Serena Williams is truly happy with Alexis Ohanian and for a long time she will remember with joy in her eyes her wedding day and that moment when her confident “Yes” sounded to the whole world.
"Yam" can't wait? New scandal with Serena Williams
WILLIAMS' CASE RECORD
The most successful tennis player in history combines several qualities in an amazing way. She can be an example for everyone in terms of talent, efficiency, hard work, perseverance and the will to win. And at the same time - push away from yourself with behavior both on the court and off it. Of course, this does not happen so often, but over Serena’s long career, the number of scandals involving her is already approaching the number of her major victories.
We remember Williams screaming, “I’m going to drive this ball down your throat!” to the girl - line judge in the semi-finals of the US Open 2009. Then a spade was fixed on her, Serena herself was inferior to Kim Clijsters , and, as they say, she “broke through.” The result was a penalty point on match point, and the American had to admit defeat.
We remember how last fall Serena threw a tantrum, accusing Portuguese referee Carlos Ramos of all mortal sins during the final in New York. “I’m a mother, I have a child, I never lie! And you are a liar! And a thief! You stole the game from me! Is it because I'm a woman? This is sexism! – Williams yelled because the referee gave her a warning for the coach’s hint. It all ended predictably - Ramos eventually fined her a game, and Serena herself lost the title to Naomi Osaka .
We remember how Williams was hiding in the bathroom of her house from the doping officer who came to check early in the morning. And then she explained everything... with fear. “It seemed to me that a thief was breaking in on me!” – Serena said. In another similar episode, she was simply not at home, and later Williams even wrote an angry letter to the WTA and started controversy in the press - they say she is tested for doping too often. Although Williams technically violated the rules by failing doping tests, both cases were hushed up - other athletes in similar situations usually face a 2-year suspension.
Serena's endless grievances have already become the subject of ridicule. How, for example, should we take her words about Sharapova?
– For some reason, everyone thinks I’m evil, although I communicate well with my colleagues. At the same time, Sharapova, who never says a word to anyone in the locker room, is known as a friendly athlete. How so? Is it because I'm black? – Williams was indignant.
And these “I’m a mother!”, “This is all because I’m black!”, “I’m a woman, and everyone around me is sexist!” - this is a standard set of phrases that Serena has been using for the last two years in any situation if something doesn’t go the way she wants. Similar stories are piling up. And after Williams' defeat in Paris, another one was added to them.
TIM'S OUTRAGE
When Williams was scheduled to give a press conference, the main conference room in the media was occupied by Dominic Thiem . Serena refused to wait, and the organizers... couldn’t come up with anything better than to interrupt the Austrian’s communication with journalists. And ask him to leave.
To say that the Dominator was stunned is to say nothing!
- Are you serious? Are you joking? No? What the heck! Okay, I'll leave! If so, I will also do what I want! – Tim was indignant. And he went to the locker room, refusing television interviews in other rooms.
Here you need to understand that Dominic is also a star. The guy is the fourth racket in the world, last year’s finalist of the tournament and one of the main favorites of this year (along with Nadal and Djokovic). He had just won (unlike Serena) and he was already speaking German (according to the regulations, any press conference begins in English, and only then the player can continue communicating in his native language). Everything looked like Tim had coped with the mandatory program, and the organizers no longer cared about the interests of his native media. After all, Serena is waiting here!
In 2012, outside this very hall, I personally watched as Maria Sharapova Andy Murray’s press conference to end . And nothing - I didn’t swear, I didn’t cry! She just laughed and joked. Then, with her characteristic sense of humor, she egged the Scot on: “Well, why did you make the girl wait!” He smiled and promised to “make amends” by treating her to dinner. That's all. You can’t imagine - no one even died!
And then I had to cancel the interview for Williams.
In fairness, we must admit that Serena herself is not to blame for this story. She really didn't want to wait, but she didn't care where the press conference was held. The organizers themselves decided to send Williams to the main hall, and not to one of the available, but smaller ones. The question is - for what? Were you afraid that this meeting would be her last at Roland Garros in her career? That Serena will not return to Paris next year? Or is it simply a desire to “curry favor” with the star, albeit to the detriment of another person? History is silent. But in any case, everything turned out ugly. And it seems that Williams will be remembered much more often in the coming years by such ugly stories than by her previous victories.
