Serena Williams

Serena Williams is primarily a baseline player. Her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with a powerful and consistent serve (considered by some to be the best in the women's game), return of serve, and forceful groundstrokes from both her forehand and backhand swings. Her serve is technically very sound and has been hit as hard as 128 mph (203 kph), second fastest all-time.

Williams' solid volleys—especially her drive volleys and powerful overheads give her advantages over the net. She produces good drop volleys, a shot that not many players use.

Although Williams' forehand is among the most powerful shots in the women's game, her backhand is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Williams can hit a winning backhand shot in any position or place on the court down the line or cross court, even when on the defensive or otherwise under pressure. Williams strikes her backhand groundstroke using an open stance, and uses the same open stance for her forehand.

She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions, as of April 20, 2009, she was ranked World No. 2. She is the reigning US Open and Australian Open singles champion and has won 20 Grand Slam titles: 10 in singles, 8 in doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles, and is the most recent player, male or female, to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. She is also the only active female player to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career (one French Open, two Wimbledon, four Australian and three US Opens).

Serena has won more Grand Slams than any active player. Additionally, Williams 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.

She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams, the sisters have played each other in 20 professional matches dating back to 1998, with matches played between them tied at 10–10 as of May 2009. They are the only women during the open era to have played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals.