Welcome tennis fans. It’s hard to believe that after 27 years of hard work and winning multiple grand slam tennis tournaments, our favorite women’s tennis superstar Serena Williams is now retiring. Serena and Venus were both coached by their parents Oracene Prince and Richard Williams (or as they call him, King Richard).

The Beginning

Williams turned pro in 1995 at just 14-years-old. While she hadn’t won any major titles in her first couple of years as a professional, you could tell she was going to be a Grand Slam Champion very soon. And fun fact: Williams turned pro a year later after Amazon was created in 1994 by the one and only Jeff Bezos. The point is, you have to start small before you can go big in life.

And that small little work finally payed off as Williams won her first Grand Slam Tournament in 1999 at the U.S. Open. Williams began to enter a cycle of dominance in the sport, winning every single major tournament starting with the 2002 French Open and ending with the 23rd Australian Open. All four of her titles came in the finals against her older sister Venus, who both of them are considered to be some of the games all time greats who changed the game of tennis.

Peaking Point

Williams would obtain two more major singles titles before taking a little dip due to injuries. In 2007, Williams overcame those injuries and returned atop the world rankings in women’s singles tennis. 2012 is where Williams would peak again, as she won gold at the London Olympics and made history by being the first player to win a career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles tennis. She won her second “Serena Slam” in 2014 by winning all four titles in a row. Her biggest highlight came at the 2017 Australian Open where she would win her 23rd grand slam singles title, passing the legendary Steffi Graff’s record.

It’s amazing to think that some of the biggest grand slam finals in women’s tennis history came down to the Williams sisters battling it out for family bragging rights and a title. King Richard is one proud dad.

Off the court Awards

While Williams rose to national prominence on the court, she also won multiple awards off the court too. In December 2015, Williams was named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the year. She also broke a glass ceiling in women’s tennis in 2016, when she was world’s highest paid women athlete, compensating for $29 million.

Top 10 Grand Slam Championships

1. 1999 U.S. Open Final – against Martina Hingis – W (6-3, 7-6)

The first time Williams won a grand slam tournament was on the hard court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the 1999 US Open. Williams cruised to a 6-3 first set win while taking a tough second set 7-6 in a tiebreaker. It was her first grand slam win as a pro, but you could tell from there that she was going to be dominating woman’s tennis for a long time.

2. 2002 French Open Final – against her sister Venus Williams – W (7-5, 6-3)

What greater feeling than to win the French Open in two sets against your biggest motivator in your sister Venus. The sisters would compete in four straight grand slam finals from there until her 2004 lost to Russian Maria Sharapova.

3. 2007 Australian Open – revenge against Maria Sharapova – W (6-1, 6-2)

Back in 2004, Williams was the world’s most dominant female player and it looked liked nothing was going to get in her way. That was until a young Russian female by the name of Maria Sharapova shocked the world and upset Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon Final. This time around, Williams got her revenge and defeated Sharapova in two sets at the 2007 Australian Open.

4. 2009 Wimbledon Final – revenge against Venus Williams – W (7-6, 6-2)

2008 was the first time ever that Serena lost to Venus in the Wimbledon Finals, after previously defeating her in 2002 and 2003. Serena came into 2009 winning the Australian Open Final over Dinara Safina in two sets. Now, her focus was not only getting back to the final on the grass court, but it was also to win back family bragging rights. In a quick 2 set match, Serena soundly defeated Venus to take back the 2009 Wimbledon Trophy.

5. 2015 Australian Open – 2nd time’s the charm against Sharapova – W (6-3, 7-6)

I feel like we’ve seen this movie before. Oh yeah, we have. The last time Williams net up with Sharapova in the Australian Open Final was in 2007. Sharapova was looking to win a different grand slam final against Williams after her stunning 2004 Wimbledon upset of Williams. Well, Williams got her revenge in 2007, now it was Sharapova’s turn to take the title back again. But as it says in the title of this article, 2nd times the charm and it was Williams once again defeating Sharapova in the 2015 edition of the Australian Open.

6. 2017 Australian Open – Beating Venus for first Australian Open Title against her sister in fourteen years – W (6-4, 6-4)

Back in 2003, the Williams sisters met on the hard court in Australia for the Australian open finals and it was anticipated to be a gritty match. Serena played amazing in that final soundly defeating Venus 7-6, 3-6. Fast forward fourteen years later and Serena once again defeats Venus, but it is more of a sweeter victory than it was fourteen years ago.

7. 2009 Australian Open – Beating Dinara Safina in their only grand slam finals match – W (6-0, 6-3)

Williams ended 2008 on a high note after losing to his sister Venus in the Wimbledon Final. She bounced back nicely and grabbed the 2008 US Open Title over Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5. Heading into 2009, Williams wanted to start on the right foot by winning the Australian Open to help her regain the title from Venus at Wimbledon. Williams proved that she was ready for the new season soundly beating Safina in two sets.

8. 2010 Australian Open – Back to Back titles for Williams against Justine Henin – W (6-4, 3-6, 6-2)

Williams came back with a vengence winning the 2009 Australian Open over Safina and then getting revenge on her sister Venus by taking back the 2009 Wimbledon Title. So would she get off to a hot start in 2010? You bet your life savings she would. Williams took two out of three sets against Justine Henin to claim back-to-back Australian Open Titles.

9. 2010 Wimbledon Final – Another back-to-back grand slam title after beating Venus in 2009 – W (6-3, 6-2)

Williams would continue to roll in 2010 after winning her second straight Australian Open to start out the new Grand Slam year over Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Now the calender marked June 2010 and the Williams sister’s love that month because it means it’s time to win more hardware on the grass at Wimbledon. 2009 was a big tournament for Serena as she was on the revenge tour after losing to Venus in 2008.

Williams came, saw, and conqured her revenge against Venus winning in 2009. In 2010, she would face Vera Zvonareva for the final and with a win, she would be back to back Australian Open Champion and Wimbledon Champion. Serena had no problems handling her opponent again and defeated Zvonareva in two sets.

10. 2014 US Open – Williams wins her third straight US Open Title against Caroline Wozniacki – W – (6-3, 6-3)

While winning back-to-back Australian Opens and Wimbledon Titles is an accomplishment for Williams, the run from the 2012-2014 US Open’s was the highest point of her storied career. After losing to Samantha Stosure in two sets at the 2011 US Open, Williams had hit adversity in this point of her career. Some wondered if she would ever get back to dominating women’s tennis again? 2012 answered that question very positively. Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka in three sets to win her first US Open title since 2008. Williams and Azarenka met up again the 2013 US Open Final and Williams won the second match again in three sets to claim her second straight US Open Title. It was clear Williams was back to relevancy, but worked hard in the offseason to prepare for what would happen in 2014.

Williams returned to New York City as the back-to-back US Open Champion and made it all the way to the finals again. Standing in her way, was Caroline Wozniacki who made it to the final looking for her biggest upset win in her grand slam career. Williams was ready from the get go, completely dominating Wozniacki and cruised to her third straight US Open Title in two sets.

Let’s wish Serena a happy and healthy retirement as she was really one of the greatest women’s tennis players in the game!