The next week Williams competed in the Cincinnati Masters tournament. 47 at the 2014 ASB Classic in Auckland, where she finished runner-up to Ana Ivanovic. She possesses effective kick and slice serves, which she deploys as second serves, preventing opponents from scoring free points. She ended the year ranked No. She made it to the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open where she lost in a tight two-setter to eventual champion Jelena Janković. In doubles, she teamed with her sister Serena to successfully defend their title, defeating the top-ranked team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final. At the Indian Wells Masters, Williams came back from 1–6, 1–4 down and saved three match points in the second round to defeat Jelena Jankovic, tying their head-to-head record at seven-all. 1 ranking in singles on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to do so in the Open Era, and the second all time since Althea Gibson. Williams lost both her singles tie-break matches but won the doubles pairing with her sister. She made it to the third round of the Italian Open before losing to Simona Halep. 3 and eventual champion Jana Novotná in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. 2, behind only Serena. [23] After the diagnosis, she adopted a vegan diet, as well as reducing her intake of calories and sugars, which helped get her back to match winning fitness. In the round of 16, she bested No. She withdrew from the Western & Southern Open the following week with the same injury. [27] This dropped her ranking to No. In February, Williams won the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium for the second consecutive year, defeating Kim Clijsters in the final. With 49 WTA singles titles, Williams trails only her sister Serena Williams among active players on the WTA Tour with most singles titles. Williams then successfully defended her Wimbledon title, defeating third-seeded Davenport in the semifinals and eighth-seeded Henin in three sets in Henin's first Wimbledon final. Williams won her 44th WTA career title and her first title in over two and half years at the 2012 BGL Luxembourg Open, where she defeated Monica Niculescu in straight sets. In her semifinal match, she defeated Jelena Janković of Serbia to advance to her second consecutive final in the tournament. A fortnight later, Williams won the Zurich Open, defeating Ivanovic in the semifinals before defeating Pennetta in the final to claim her second title of the year and secure a position in the year-ending 2008 WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar. In this dark, gothic fairy tale for adults Ray Lovelock plays David, a lone hippie motorcyclist, cruising the highways, in search of a better world. Williams started her official tennis season as No. Venus won the match and her fourth Grand Slam singles title. Williams was twice the season prize money leader in 2001 and 2017, and currently ranks second behind Serena in career prize money earned with over $41.8 million. [62] Braasch said afterwards, "500 and above, no chance." At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at one Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody at the 1924 Summer Olympics (she was followed by her sister in 2012). In the quarterfinals she defeated Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in three sets, but fell in the semifinals to Petra Kvitova in another three set match. She defeated 17th-seeded Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round. Williams started 2003 by defeating fifth seed Justine Henin to make the final of the Australian Open for the first time. From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments in that span. The only two women older than Williams were Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. [30] In the first round of Miami — her first singles match since the 2011 US Open — Williams defeated Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in straight sets. The argument goes that the top women – who are more likely also to play doubles matches than their male peers – earn more than the top men if you count singles, doubles and mixed doubles prize money. Following the tournament, Williams dropped to no. Williams defeated former champion Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals and Kim Clijsters in the semifinals to advance to her fourth consecutive Wimbledon final, where she lost again to sister Serena. [9] Williams finished the year ranked No. At Wimbledon, Williams was unseeded for the first time since 1997. She returned in late April on clay in Warsaw, where she defeated former No. At the US Open Williams lost in a second-round match against Angelique Kerber in three sets, despite having a 4–2 lead in the third set. Williams was the first African-American woman ever to hold the ranking. However she then lost to eventual champion Justine Henin. Williams held the record for the fastest serve in women's tennis at 207.9 km/h (129.2 mph), achieved at the, Williams became the first women to win both Year-end Championships (the, At the 2017 French Open, Williams broke the record and became the oldest woman to reach the 4th round by defeating Elise Mertens in straight sets. This win meant Williams was ranked in the top five for the first time since 2003, while it also marked her 40th professional singles title, only the twelfth player in the open era to achieve the feat. She won her first four matches in Paris without losing a set before losing in the quarterfinals to eighth-seeded and former champion Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in three sets. Williams rebounded from the Indian Wells 'boycott' controversy to win the next tournament on the tour calendar, the Tier I Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. In it, Williams accused Wimbledon of being on the "wrong side of history", writing: I feel so strongly that Wimbledon's stance devalues the principle of meritocracy and diminishes the years of hard work that women on the tour have put into becoming professional tennis players.I believe that athletes – especially female athletes in the world's leading sport for women – should serve as role models. This was her first year-end finish ranked outside of the top 50 since 1997. 17 Anna Kournikova in the fourth round to reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year, where she lost to eventual runner-up Graf. 1. The following week, Williams scored her first top-ten win since 2015, against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open. Teaming with her sister, she played doubles and won the title, defeating Monica Niculescu and Yung-Jan Chan. Williams’ ranking fell to 78 in the world by the end of the season. He was also one of the main characters in The Timeless Land, playing the role of John MacArthur. 1 and No. On May 17, her ranking improved to No. Due to her all-court game, Williams is able to hit winners from any position on the court. Williams once again replaced Capriati as the No. During the remainder of the year, Williams contributed to the USA's victory over Russia in the Fed Cup final, winning one singles rubber before joining her sister to win the doubles rubber. Williams then played at the 2014 Wuhan Open, where she lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia despite having held a match point. Williams was scheduled to play in Auckland in preparation for the Australian Open. Patellar tendonitis in her left knee caused her to retire from her quarterfinal match at the tournament in San Diego while trailing Mary Pierce 4–0 in the third set. She entered the women's singles and women's doubles events, partnering with sister Serena in doubles. Williams pulled out of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships due to a back injury. 1), Glamour Magazine's Women of the Year Award, Harris Poll Top 10 Favorite Female Sports Star (No. 125 Barbara Schwartz. Their rivalry is one of the best in women's sports and has been called a "rivalry for the ages". [80], In June 2009, Williams was named 77th in the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities compiled by Forbes magazine. Serena Williams would supplant Venus Williams for the No. She finished the year ranked No. On September 8, 1997, her ranking broke into the top 50 for the first time. The match lasted 193 minutes, the second longest match since the tournament was held in Singapore. 1 Hingis in three sets. She met Caroline Wozniacki in the final, where she found herself down a set and 0–5. He briefly co-produced weekly magazine program Midweek Live for DDQ TV in Toowoomba with presenter Craig Berkman in early 1990. At the Italian Open in Rome, she defeated sister in the quarterfinals and No. Williams was granted wildcards to participate in the Miami[29] and Charleston tournaments. [45] She was scheduled to finish her season at the Luxembourg Open, but pulled out due to a knee injury. However, she teamed up with her sister Serena to win the women's doubles title at the event, their eighth Grand Slam doubles title together. At the French Open, she extended her winning streak to 22 matches before losing in the fourth round to No. At the Mexican Open, where she was the fifth seed, Williams was beaten by qualifier Kaja Juvan. Williams's next tournament was at the Taiwan Open, where she was the No. At the US Open, after setting a Grand-Slam record 129 mph (208 km/h) serve in the opening round,[12] Williams advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal outside of Wimbledon since 2003. At the 2013 Hopman Cup, and playing for USA (with John Isner), the first rubber was against South Africa. After a four month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams returned to competition by playing World TeamTennis. At the 2014 Rogers Cup, Williams defeated No. [28] Playing with Liezel Huber, she won the dead-rubber in straight sets. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Betty Barclay Cup in Hamburg to Amanda Coetzer and in the third round of the Tier I Italian Open in Rome to Jelena Dokić. [14] At the French Open, Williams was seeded eighth but was eliminated by 26th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta in the third round. Next, Williams defeated Barbora Strycova in the first round of the China Open before losing to Belinda Bencic after having two match points. On March 30, 1998, her ranking broke into the top 10 for the first time, at No. Venus would defeat Serena Williams in the 1999 final and her sister Serena would turn the tables two years later and beat Venus for the 2001 title. 6), Nielsen Most Marketable Athletes in the U.S. (No. 1 Davenport in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Having received a bye in the first round, Williams won her second-round match against Barbora Strycova in straight sets.