Temptations - My Girl Lyrics | MetroLyrics
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The Temptations - My Girl (lyrics)
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from the album
Copyright: Writer(s): Robinson William, William Robinson Jr, Ronald White, Robinson Smokey
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I've got sunshine
On a cloudy day
When it's cold outside
I've got the month of MayI guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl
I've got so much honey
The bees envy me
I've got a sweeter song
Than the birds in the treesWell, I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl
Ooo-ooo, hoo-oooHey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Ooh yeahI don't need no money
Fortune or fame
I got all the riches, baby
One man can claim
Well, I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl
My girlI got sunshine on a cloudy day with my girl
I've even got the month of May with my girl
Talkin' bout, talkin' 'bout, talkin' 'bout my girl
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You gotta check outFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Last updated on: January 8, 2018.
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional
player. The
(WTA) has ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions over the last 15 years from 2002 to 2017. She became the world No. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002. On her sixth occasion, she held the ranking for , tying the record set by
for the most consecutive weeks as world No. 1 by a female tennis player. In total, she has been world No. 1 for 319 weeks, which ranks
among female players behind
and . Some commentators, players and sports writers regard her as the greatest female tennis player of all time. On April 19, 2017, she announced a hiatus from tennis until 2018 because of pregnancy.
Williams holds the most
titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined amongst active players. Her record of 39
titles puts her 3rd on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15) and the third player to achieve this record twice after
and . She is also, together with her sister , the most recent player to have held all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles simultaneously (2009–10).
Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Grand Slam wins by a tennis player in the , and is
list behind
(24). She is the only tennis player in history (man or woman) to have won singles titles at least six times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and the only player ever to have won two Grand Slams seven times each (7 Wimbledon titles and 7 Australian Open titles). She is also the only tennis player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades. She has won an all-time record of 13 Grand Slam singles titles on . Williams holds the Open Era record for most titles won at the
(7) and shares the Open Era record for most titles won at the
(6). She also holds the all-time record for the most women's singles matches won at the Grand Slams with 316 matches.
She has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, all with her sister Venus, and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. As a team, she and Venus have the third most women's doubles grand slam titles, behind the 18 titles of
(14 with Gigi Fernández) and the record 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Williams is also a five-time winner of the
in the singles division. Serena has also won four , one in women's singles and three in women's doubles—an all-time record shared with her sister, Venus. The arrival of the
has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Earning almost $29 million in prize money and endorsements, Williams was the highest paid female athlete in 2016. She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on ' list of the 100 highest paid athletes with $27 million in prize money and endorsements. She has won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award four times (, ), and in December 2015, she was named
Williams was born in , to
and , and is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters , Lyndrea, and Isha Price, and full sister . When the children were young, the family moved to , where Williams started playing tennis at the age of three. Her father, Richard,
Serena and her sister Venus. While he and subsequently her mother, Oracene, have been the official coaches, other mentors who helped her learn the game included Richard Williams, a Compton man who shared her father's name and would go on to found The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis/Tutorial Academy.
When Williams was nine, she and her family moved from Compton to , so that she could attend th Macci began to provide additional coaching. Macci did not always agree with Williams's father, but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls". Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Experiences of racism also drove this experience, as Richard Williams had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the
junior tour and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and, from then on, took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit would have been beneficial, Williams responded: "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us."
Williams is primarily a , and her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with her powerful and consistent serve, return of serve, and forceful
from both her
swings. Williams's forehand is considered to be among the most powerful shots in the women's game, as is her double-handed backhand. Williams strikes her backhand groundstroke using an open stance, and uses the same open stance for her forehand. Williams's aggressive play, a "high risk" style, is balanced in part by her serve, which most say is the greatest in women's tennis history. She consistently projects great pace and place in the 2013 Australian Open, she had a peak serve speed of 128.6&#160;mph (207.0&#160;km/h) which is the third fastest all-time among female players (only
129&#160;mph and 's 131&#160;mph recorded speeds are faster). What makes her serve even more deadly is her ball placement and her ability to consistently place powerful shots with great accuracy. At the 2012 Championships at Wimbledon, she hit a women's tournament record of 102 aces, which was more than any of the men hit during the two weeks, a rarity given that aces are more common in the men's game. Williams also possesses a very solid and powerful overhead. Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player,[] she also plays a strong defensive game. She has stated that her favorite surface is clay because it gives her extra time to set up her shots.
Williams is known for producing exceptional comebacks, particularly on the Grand Slam level. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles after saving match points, (the 2003 Australian Open semifinal versus , the 2005 Australian Open semifinal versus , and the 2009 Wimbledon semifinal versus ), a feat achieved more often than any other player in history. She also came back from a 3–5 deficit in the third set against
in the 1999 US Open en route to her first Grand Slam singles title. In the
final against , she was down 3–5 in the third set and found herself two points away from losing the match. Williams then proceeded to win the next 4 games and defeated Azarenka. In the semi-finals of the , Williams was ill and barely able to walk during changeovers, yet beat her opponent, , 6–0 in the third set. Another improbable win occurred in the third round of the , when she recovered from two breaks of service in the third set to defeat Great Britain's number-one female player, . Williams has bounced back from a set down to win in 37 Grand Slam matches.
In recent years, Williams has shown an ability to serve aces at critical moments. One of these instances was the
final, where in the last game of the match, she fired three aces, including one which clocked at 123&#160;mph (198&#160;km/h) on match point. She repeated the feat similarly against
in the finals of the
to tie the Open Era record for Grand Slam singles titles. Williams fired three un-returnable serves in her final service game before winning the match and the title with a casual forehand volley on the next point.
Williams's parents wanted their daughter to wait until she was 16 to participate in professional tournaments. However, in 1995 just after turning 14, Williams planned to make her professional debut as a
entry in the
in , but was denied by the WTA due to age-eligibility restrictions of the organization. She subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women's tour, but withdrew it at the behest of her parents. Her first professional event was in October 1995 at the
in , where she used a wild-card entry to circumvent age-eligibility rules. She lost in the first round of qualifying to then 18-year-old American , winning just two games.
Williams did not play a tournament in 1996.[] The following year, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments,[] before winning her first main-draw match in November at the . Ranked world No. 304, she upset world No. 7, , and No. 4, , recording her first career wins over top&#160;10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the
to defeat two top-10 opponents in one tournament. She ultimately lost in the semifinals to world No. 5, . She finished 1997 ranked world number 99.
Williams began 1998 at the . As a qualifier ranked world No. 96, she defeated world No. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to
in the semifinals. Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the , where she defeated sixth-seeded
in the first round, before losing to sister Venus in the second round in the sisters' first professional match. Williams reached six other quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them, including her first match against world number one-ranked
in Key Biscayne, and her second match against Venus at the
in Rome. She failed to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament the remainder of the year,[] losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and the third round of the
to Sp?rlea. She withdrew from
two games into a match with , after straining her calf muscle during the first set. She did, however, win the mixed doubles titles at
with , completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand Slam tournaments. Williams won her first professional title in doubles in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA title. Williams and her sister won two more doubles titles together during the year. Williams finished the year ranked world No. 20 in singles. To date, 1998 is the only year in which Williams failed to win a Grand Slam when she competed at all four majors.
A 16-year-old Serena competed in a tennis "Battle of the Sexes", along with her sister , against
at the 1998 Australian Open. At the time Braasch was ranked 203rd. The Williams sisters had claimed they could beat any man outside the top 200, and he accepted the challenge. Not known for having an ideal training regimen, Braasch nonetheless beat both Williams sisters, playing a single set against each. The score vs Serena was 6–1 and vs Venus 6–2. Braasch said afterwards, "500 and above, no chance." The girls later tweaked the number to beating men outside the top 350.
Williams lost in the third round of the
to . A month later, Williams won her first professional singles title when she defeated
in the final of the
in Paris. With Venus also winning the
in Memphis, Tennessee that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week. In March of that year, at the
in California, Williams won her first
title, defeating
in the final. Soon afterwards at the , Williams had her 16-match winning streak ended by her sister in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history, and she then made her top-10 debut, at world No. 9. She then lost in the quarterfinals of the
and the , and the third round of the , where she and Venus won the women's doubles title. Williams then missed
because of injury. When she returned to the tour, Williams won a
singles match and then won the
in Los Angeles, beating
in the final. She then defeated in succession Grand Slam champions , , , and defending champion Lindsay Davenport to reach the
final, where she defeated world No. 1, Hingis, to become the second African-American woman, after
in 1958, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at this tournament. To complete her 1999 season, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia. Williams ended the year ranked world No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.
Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the
to . She failed to defend her titles in Paris and Indian Wells, although she did win the
in Germany. Soon afterwards, Williams missed the
because of injury. She returned from injury at , where she lost to Venus in the semifinals, but the pair won the doubles title at the event. Williams successfully defended her title in Los Angeles, defeating Davenport in the final. She reached the final of the
where an injury forced her to retire from her match with Hingis. Her defense of the
title ended when she lost in the quarterfinals to Davenport. Williams teamed with Venus to win the gold medal in doubles at the
that September. She ended the year winning the
in Japan and she finished the year ranked world No. 6.
Williams began 2001 losing to Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals of the Medibank International in
and the Australian Open in Melbourne. Williams and her sister won the doubles title at the latter tournament, becoming only the fifth doubles team in history to win all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles during their career, completing a "Career Grand Slam". Her next event was the
in California, where she defeated Kim Clijsters in the final. However, the final was marred by the behavior of the crowd towards Williams and her family. The crowd were incensed at the perceived match fixing of games involving the family after
before their semifinal. Neither Williams nor her sister entered the tournament for fourteen years until Williams entered in 2015 as a wildcard (and the top seed). The following week at the
in Miami, Williams lost to
in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati at both the
and . This was the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament at which Williams had exited in the quarterfinals. During the North American hard-court season, she lost in the quarterfinals of
against Monica Seles, then captured her second title of the year at the , defeating Capriati in the final. Williams reached the final of the 2001 US Open, losing to sister Venus. That was the first Grand Slam tournament final contested by two sisters during the . At the 2001 season-ending , Williams won the championship by walkover when Davenport withdrew before the start of the final due to a knee injury. Williams finished 2001 at world No. 6 for the second straight year.
Early 2002, injury saw Williams retire from the semifinal at the
and later withdraw from the .
Playing Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Sydney in 2002
Returning from injury, Williams won her first title of the year in , defeating world No. 2, Jennifer Capriati, in the final. She then won the Miami Masters for the first time, becoming one of three players in the
to defeat the world's top 3 ranked players at one tournament, after beating world No. 3, Martina Hingis, in the quarterfinals, world No. 2 Venus in the semifinals, and the top ranked player, Capriati, in the final. Serena's straight set win over Venus was her second career win over her sister.
Williams played three clay-court tournaments before the . Her first tournament was at , where she was the third seed. Williams reached the quarterfinals before losing to . She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the
in a third set tiebreak. Williams went on to win her first clay court title at the , defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final. This raised her ranking to a new high of No. 3. Williams was the third seed at the French Open at Roland Garros, where she claimed her first title there by defeating defending champion Capriati in the semifinals and sister Venus in the final to win her second Grand Slam tournament title (and her first in two-and-a-half years). As a result of raising the trophy at , Williams rose to a career high of No. 2, second only to Venus.
At , Williams won tennis' oldest championship for the first time in her life, defeating Venus to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first time in her career. This victory earned Williams the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in her life, dethroning her sister and becoming only the third African-American woman to hold that ranking. The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam doubles title for the pair. Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the , losing in the quarterfinals of the
in Los Angeles to American
and ending a 21-match winning streak. The top-seeded player at the US Open, Williams reached the final where, for the third Grand Slam in a row, she defeated her sister to win the title, the second US Open crown of her career. Williams won two consecutive singles titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the
in Tokyo, and
to win the
in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-end
in Los Angeles, where she lost to fifth-seeded Clijsters in straight sets, ending an 18-match winning streak.
Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 W/L record, eight singles titles, and the world No. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American to end a year with that ranking since
in 1958[] and was the first woman to win three Grand Slam tournament titles in one year since Hingis in 1997. Her three consecutive Grand Slam titles to close 2002 also made Williams only the third player in tennis history to win the "Surface Slam", three Slam titles on three surfaces in the same calendar year, after Navratilova (1984) and Graf (, 1996).
At the , Williams reached the tournament's semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the third set and saved two match points before defeating Clijsters. In the final, Serena faced Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final, defeating her older sister to become the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, alongside , , , , and . She also became the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously, joining , Court, Graf, and Navratilova. This feat was dubbed the "Serena Slam" by the press. The
won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event.
During the spring of 2003, Williams captured the singles titles at the
and the . Williams's winning streak came to an end when she lost the final of the
to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She also lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the
in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the top seed at the , where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin, marking Williams's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2001. The match was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams's errors. Williams rebounded from the French Open loss a couple weeks later at the , defeating Henin in the semifinals and Venus in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. Wimbledon was Williams's last tournament of 2003; she pulled out of three events in the USA and then underwent surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee in early August. Williams was initially expected to be out for six to eight weeks.
After eight months away from the tour, during which time her desire was questioned, Williams began her comeback at the 2004
in Miami in March, where she made a triumphant return as she won the title for the third consecutive year.
Delivering a serve at an exhibition in November 2004
Although ranked world No. 7, Williams was seeded second at the French Open, where, after winning four matches, she lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals. This was the first time that Williams had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001. A few weeks later, even though her ranking had dropped to world No. 10, Serena was seeded first at . She won six matches en route to the final, where she was defeated by 13th-seeded Sharapova in straight sets. This loss caused her ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 1999. Later that summer, Williams reached her third final of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles where she lost to Lindsay Davenport which was her first loss to the American since the 2000 US Open. After missing her national championship in 2003, Williams returned for the 2004 , where she was seeded third despite her world ranking of eleven. She lost in the U.S. Open quarterfinals to Capriati in three sets in controversial fashion. That fall, Williams won her second title of the year, at the , defeating US Open champion
in the final. Williamses successful season allowed her to qualify for the , held again in Los Angeles. In the round-robin phase of the tournament, Williams defeated Dementieva and
and lost to Davenport, but still advanced to the elimination stage. After winning her semifinal, she lost to Sharapova in the final, where she suffered an abdominal injury. Williams finished 2004 ranked world No. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first season since 2001.
At the , Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis, following Venus's early exit. Williams saved three match points to defeat Sharapova 8–6 in the third of their semifinal. In the final, Williams defeated top seed Davenport to win her second Australian Open and seventh Grand Slam singles title, winning 12 of the last 15 games. The win moved Williams back to world No. 2 but stated she was targeting the top spot.
Williams completed just two tournaments between the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing to Venus in Miami and at Internazionali BNL d'Italia to
as Williams suffered a series of retirements and withdraws. A reoccurring ankle injury causing her to miss the . She returned for
as the 4th-seeded player, but was defeated in the third round by world No. 85, . At the , Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth round. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first meeting, at the 1998 Australian Open. Williams played just one more match that fall, a loss to world No. 127
at the . She failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998 and she finished the year 2005 ranked world No. 11, her first time finishing the season outside the top 10 since 1998.
Williams in 2006
Williams made her 2006 debut at the . Defending the title, Williams lost to
in the third round. After the tournament, she told the press that she was injured, blaming a lack of fitness and a knee injury for keeping her off the court. However, in her biography, Serena claims that she was actually suffering from depression. She stayed away from pro tennis for six months during the 2006 season. After she had shut herself off from the world for a period, Williams saw a therapist daily. After a chance meeting with a young girl who idolized Serena and believed that she could still win, Williams signed up to play in Cincinnati, her first tournament since Melbourne. Williams had slipped to 139 in the world, the lowest ranking she had held since 1997. On her return, Williams defeated Myskina and , before losing in the semifinals to . She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to Jankovi? in straight sets. At the , Williams needed a wildcard to enter the tournament, as her ranking at the cut-off time was 139th in the world, outside the automatic 102. However her ranking had improved to 79th by the time the tournament came around. She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the fourth round. Following the US Open, she did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked world No. 95, her lowest year-end ranking since 1997.
Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to return to the top of the rankings, a comment 1987 Wimbledon men's singles champion and commentator
branded "deluded."
Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the , a warm-up for the
where Williams was unseeded because of her world No. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as "out of shape." She experienced a huge amount of pressure on herself prior to the tournament, coming from her fans and the press as well as Serena herself about her weight, focus and needing a good showing.
Shortly before her first match, a representative from Nike paid her a visit in the players' lounge, informing her that if she didn't perform to her accustomed level, the company might drop her. Williams claimed that Nike's ultimatum meant that she would have to reach the quarterfinals at least.
The distraction from Nike did not distract Williams, as she lost just three games to
and defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets. By this point, a blister had developed on Williamses' foot and she had contracted a cold. In the third round, Williams found herself two points away from going home against , but fought back to win in three sets, which was her first win over a top-10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final. Williams then made it all the way to the final, defeating Jankovi?, Pe'er and Vaidi?ová. Williams described them as "good players. Strong players. Players who certainly didn't expect an overweight, out-of-shape, has been champion like me to give them a game.". Williams also found herself two points from going out against Peer before turning it around. By the time Williams had reached the final, the cold and blister had both left. Previewing the finals,
stated that, although Serena had a great tournament, she believed that the ride was over and that Sharapova would have no trouble with Williams. Serena thought it was mean and unnecessary and used it as motivation along with other criticism. In the final, Williams lost just three games against Maria Sharapova winning her first title at any tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open 24 months prior. Williams became the first player since
to win the title whilst not being seeded, and claimed her third Australian Open and eighth Grand Slam singles title overall. The win elevated Williams to 14th in the rankings. Williams dedicated the title to her deceased half-sister Yetunde. Her performance in the final was described in the press as "one of the best performances of her career" and "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis." In her post match interview, Williams took a swipe at her critics, stating that she had proved them wrong. Williams won the
in Miami for the fourth time by defeating Justine Henin. Serena had to record a come-from-behind win after being whitewashed in the first set and saving two match points in the second. She played for her country in the Fed Cup for the first time since 2003 in a tie against , and won her opening match but withdrew from her second, because of a knee injury.
At the , Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Henin. During her fourth round match against Hantuchová at Wimbledon, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the second set. After a medical timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, rain forced play to be suspended for nearly two hours. When the players returned, Williams won the match in three sets. Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with Henin, whilst suffering from the injuries sustained in the previous round. At the US Open, Williams lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin. Williams reached the final of , losing to . Williams qualified for the WTA Championships, but retired from her first match with
with a knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the event. Williams finished 2007 as world No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.
Williams started 2008 by participating on the U.S. team that won the
with . At the
she lost in the quarterfinals to , her fourth straight loss in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In the women's doubles event, she and Venus were defeated in the quarterfinals. Williams withdrew from her next three scheduled tournaments because of an urgent need for dental surgery. Williams then won three consecutive singles titles at
and her fifth
title, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament.
At the 2009 Australian Open
Williams won at the , her first clay-court title since the 2002 French Open. Her 17-match winning streak was ended by
in the quarterfinals of . Williams withdrew in
in the quarterfinals against
due to a back injury. Williams was the only former winner of the
in the draw, but lost in the third round to .
At , Williams reached the finals for the first time in four years but lost to her older sister Venus in straight sets, in their first Slam final since 2003. Serena and Venus teamed to win the women's doubles title in their first Grand Slam women's doubles title since 2003. Williams played at , but retired 6–2, 3–1 down with a left knee injury from her semifinal match against qualifier . The injury forced her to withdraw from . At the
in Beijing, Williams lost to Dementieva in the quarterfinals. Serena and Venus won the gold medal in doubles, beating
in the final. At the , Williams defeated sister Venus, Safina and Jelena Jankovi? in the final. This was her third US Open and ninth Grand Slam singles title. The victory returned her to the world No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2003. At the year-end championships she defeated Safina and lost to Venus in her round-robin matches, but withdrew from her match against Dementieva, citing a stomach muscle injury. She ended 2008 ranked world No. 2 and with four singles titles, her strongest performance in both respects since 2003.
Williams began 2009 at the
losing in the semifinals to . At the , she claimed her tenth Grand Slam singles title by defeating
in the final in 59 minutes. This win returned her to the world No. 1 ranking and resulted in her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women's sports, overtaking golfer . In women's doubles, with Venus, they captured the title for the third time.
At the , Williams withdrew before her semifinal with Dementieva because of a knee injury. Serena then played at , losing to Venus in the last 4.
Williams, hampered with ankle and quad injuries, was upset in the final by . This was the first of four consecutive losses for her, the longest losing streak of her career. She was defeated in her opening matches at , , and . Despite not having won a match on clay in 2009 before the French Open, she lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. This ended her 18-match Grand Slam tournament winning streak. She rebounded at , saving a match point in defeating fourth seeded Dementieva in the semifinals. In the final, Serena defeated her sister Venus to win her third Wimbledon title and her 11th Grand Slam singles title. Serena and Venus teamed to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year, their ninth Grand Slam title in women's doubles.
As a US Open preparation, Williams played at
losing in the third round, followed by a semifinal defeat at the Rogers Cup. At the US Open, she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kim Clijsters amid
involving shouting at a line judge when defending match point, an offense which cost Williams the point and consequently the match. She continued in the doubles competition, teaming up with Venus to win their third Grand Slam doubles title of the year and tenth of their career. Williams won all three of her round-robin matches at the year-end , defeating Venus, Dementieva, and Kuznetsova, saving a match point against Venus. She then advanced to the final, when Wozniacki retired from their semifinal match. In the final, Williams defeated Venus for her second singles title at this event.
Williams on her way to the singles and doubles title at the 2010 Australian Open
Williams finished the year ranked world No. 1 for the second time in her career, having played in 16 tournaments, more than any other year. She also broke the record previously set by Justine Henin for the most prize money earned by a female tennis player in one year, with Williams earning $6,545,586. For doubles that year, the Williams sisters finished the year ranked world No. 2, despite playing only six tournaments together as a pair. Williams had won five Grand Slam tournament titles, putting her total of Grand Slam titles won thus far at 23, and she was consequently named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press for 2009. Williams was also the
World Champion in both the singles and doubles events.
In 2010, Williams's first scheduled tournament was in , losing in the final to Elena Dementieva. At the , Williams was the defending champion in both singles and doubles. She reached the final and defeated Justine Henin, who had just recently come out of retirement, for her twelfth Grand Slam singles title. In doubles, Williams and her sister, Venus, successfully defended their title by defeating
in the final.
Williams withdrew with a leg injury from her next few events,[] and returned at the , losing to Jelena Jankovi? in the semifinals. At , she fell to Nadia Petrova in the third round but partnered Venus to win the doubles title.
At the , Williams was defeated by
in the quarterfinals. She and Venus were the top seeds in the doubles event and won the title, defeating
in the final to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title and improving their doubles ranking to world No. 1.
Williams' next tournament was Wimbledon, where she defeated Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final without facing a break point and breaking the serve of Zvonareva three times. She did not lose a set in the tournament.
After the match, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the top five of all the women's tennis players in all of history, which she said that "it's not just about how many Slams you win or how many tournaments you win—it's just your game overall. And she's definitely got all the goods." Serena was the defending champion in doubles with her sister Venus, winning the last two years. They lost in the quarterfinals to
and Zvonareva. In Munich on July 7, Williams stepped on broken glass while in a restaurant, and the injury caused her to miss the rest of the year.
Williams ended the year ranked No. 4 in singles, despite having played only six tournaments, and No. 11 in doubles after four tournaments.
On March 2, 2011, she confirmed that she had suffered a
Williams finally made a return to the practice court in March 2011. She made her first appearance on the WTA tour in almost a year in . Williams lost in round two to Vera Zvonareva, in a match that lasted over three hours. Her next tournament was , where she was the defending champion. She reached the round of 16, where she lost to . After the loss her ranking dropped to 169. Williams won her first titles since her return to tennis triumphing in
and . At the , Serena defeated , only to withdraw the next day, citing a right toe injury. She then played at the
going all the way to the final losing to Samantha Stosur, during a match which featured her . The US Open final turned out to be Williams's last match in 2011, and she ended the year ranked world No. 12 with 2 titles and with a 22–3 record for the season. She only participated in six tournaments throughout the season.
Williams won the singles gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Williams started the 2012 season at the , however, during her match against , she injured her left ankle when serving for the match. As a result, Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament. Next she participated at the
where she was upset by
in the fourth round. After a month layoff, Williams returned to competition in
losing in the quarterfinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Williams then won consecutive titles at
and Victoria Azarenka, but withdrew from her semifinal match against
citing a lower back injury. Williams suffered her first ever loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open against . Williams notched up a 33–1 record for the second half of the season winning five titles in the process. Williams won her fifth
singles title, her fourteenth Grand S setting a serving record of 24 aces by a female in a match as well as having the most aces, male or female, during the tournament (102). Williams returned to America to successfully defend her title in
in the final. Serena then returned to Wimbledon to represent her country at the Olympic Games where she won gold, defeating rival Maria Sharapova in a dominating performance. Williams failed to drop more than three games per set en route to winning the medal. Williams undefeated streak ended with a loss in Cincinnati to . In New York City, Williams went on to win her fourth
singles title and her 15th career Grand Slam title overall beating Azarenka in the final. Williams ended the season by competing at the WTA Championships and went undefeated throughout the tournament to win the event for her third title. Serena Williams was voted WTA Player of the Year for the fourth time. Based on her brilliant show in 2012, Serena was also named
World Champion. Williams also returned to doubles competitions with V in the pair's first tournament since , they claimed their fifth Wimbledon doubles title and the 13th grand slam doubles title. The pair successfully defended their Olympic doubles title which meant that they became the only tennis players to win four gold medals.
Williams's first tournament of the 2013 season was in , where she won the title without dropping a set. Williams was upset in the quarterfinals of the
by fellow American player . By virtue of defeating
in Doha, Williams returned to the world No. 1 position for the sixth time in her career and became the oldest woman in the Open Era to hold the ranking. Williams went on to lose to Victoria Azarenka in the final. In the Miami final, Williams lost a set to Maria Sharapova for the first time since 2008. However, this setback did not stop Williams who recorded her seventieth come-from-behind win. The win made Williams a six-time champion in Miami breaking the record she held with Steffi Graf and became only the fourth woman in the Open Era to have won a tournament at least six times. Williams successfully defended her Charleston title, winning it for the third time overall. Williams won her fiftieth career singles title in , defeating Sharapova in the final. Williams then played Rome, where she won the title without dropping a set, defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final to take her second title. Williams only dropped ten games in reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. There, she played Svetlana Kuznetsova and lost her first set of the tournament. In the semi final Williams only lost one game when she defeated Sara Errani, something seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert described as the finest female performance on clay she had ever seen. Williams defeated Sharapova to claim her second Roland Garros title, her sixteenth grand slam tournament title overall. She became the fourth woman in the Open Era after Navratilova, Evert and Graf to win each Grand Slam tournament title on at least two occasions. At , she advanced easily to the fourth round before being upset by eventual finalist
in three sets. After Wimbledon, Williams won the Swedish Open by defeating
in the final, the tournament win marked the first occasion that she had won an
level title. By winning the tournament this meant that Williams had managed to be undefeated on clay during the season.
Williams winning her fifth US Open title
Williams won her 3rd Rogers Cup title in Toronto beating
in the final. Williams reached the final of the
for the first time but lost to Azarenka. At the , Williams began as top seed and defending champion. She reached the final—rematch of the 2012 final against Azarenka—and won in three sets, capturing her 17th Grand Slam singles title. Williams became the oldest US Open champion in the Open Era and pushed her career prize money past $50 million. After the US Open, Williams beat Jelena Jankovi? to win the China Open in Beijing for her 10th title of 2013. Williams went through the WTA Championships undefeated winning the final against Li Na, to become the first person to defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007. Williams won her 11th title of 2013 becoming the 8th player to win 11 titles or more in a year and the first since Martina Hingis in 1997. Also, she became the oldest person to win the WTA Championships and 4th player to win it 4 times or more. By winning the championship, Williams became the first woman to win more than $10 million in a season and with her total of $12,385,572, only , in 2013, and , in
and 2013, have earned more money in one season.
Williams finished as the year end world No. 1 for the third time, becoming the oldest No. 1 player in WTA history. She was also named the 2013 ITF World Champion, the fourth time that she has been given the World Champion's crown. Williams received two prizes at the . Williams won Best Female Athlete and Best Female Tennis Player. Williams is just the fourth person to win Best Female Athlete on two occasions and she won Best Female Tennis player for a record sixth time. In late December 2013, Williams capped off her year by receiving the Associated Press 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award, her third AP award after 2002 and 2009. Only two women, Chris Evert and , have been chosen more often as AP Athlete of the Year since the annual awards were first handed out in 1931.
Williams defended her title at the
by defeating world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. At the
she ended up losing to former world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the fourth round. At , Williams lost her semi-final match to
in straight sets. Williams next headed to the Miami Open where she won her record seventh title with a straight-sets victory over world No. 2 . Serena lost to
in the second round of the . She made it to the quarterfinals at the
before withdrawing with a left thigh injury. Williams won her third title of the season at the . She was then handed the worst loss of her Grand Slam tournament career by
at the second round of the , who defeated Serena losing just four games in two sets.
defeated Williams for the second time in the year in the third round of , thus handing Serena her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005. Serena was then forced to withdraw from the doubles event alongside sister Venus while trailing 0–3 in the second round. A disoriented Serena hit 4 consecutive doubles faults and was having trouble with both her ball toss and movement before being removed from what has been described as one of the most unusual scenes ever seen in tennis.
Williams rebounded by winning 19 out of her next 20 matches (losing only to sister Venus in the semifinals of the ). This streak include titles at the
as well as her first
title and her third consecutive and sixth overall
singles title which she won without having dropped a set. With this victory Serena tied Chris Evert for most singles titles won by a woman at the US Open in the Open Era. Williams also tied Evert and Navratilova's 18 Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. By virtue of having won both the
and the , Williams collected $4,000,000 – the biggest payday in tennis history. At the
a viral illness forced her to retire while up a break in the first set against . Cornet thus became the first woman since Justine Henin in
to record three victories over Williams in one year. At the
Williams retired prior to her quarterfinal match versus Samantha Stosur. At the
in Singapore Serena advanced to the final for the third consecutive year despite having equaled her career worst loss in her second round robin match versus . Williams won her fifth
title by avenging her loss to Halep in the championship match for her seventh title of the year. Serena finished the year ranked world No. 1 for the fourth time in her career. She held the No. 1 ranking for the entire calendar year, a feat not accomplished since Steffi Graf in 1996. She was also voted WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion for a third consecutive year (sixth overall).
Williams began the
by representing the
at the . The American pair lost the final to the Poland. At the
Williams defeated Maria Sharapova for the 16th consecutive time to claim her 6th Australian Open singles title and 19th career Grand Slam singles title, winning the title on her third match point in the second set. With this victory Williams surpassed both, Evert and Navratilova, for
in the Open Era. The title was also her sixth Grand Slam singles title since turning 30 years of age, three more than the next closest to do so (Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova with three each). She is the only player in history to win all four Grand Slams at least once after having turned 30. The following weekend, Serena and sister Venus traveled to Buenos Aires to face Argentina in a World Group II tie for . She played and won her only match against
to help Team USA to a 4–1 win over Argentina. Williams announced that she would be competing at the
ending her 14-year boycott of the event. Upon her return Williams received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her first match in straight sets. She reached the semifinals, where she was due to face world No. 3, , for a place in the final, but was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. By virtue of having defeated Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals of the , Serena became only the eighth woman in the Open Era to record 700 match wins in her career. This also made her one of only three active players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, others being
and . In the semifinals she won against Halep to advance to her tenth final at the event where she won a record eighth title and extended her winning streak to 21 by beating .
Williams celebrating her third French Open title
As preparation for the clay court season (and to ensure her eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics), Williams travelled to , to face Italy's team for a place in the 's World Group. Williams lost the decisive doubles match alongside
to Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta, and as a result the
were relegated to World Group II. It was Williams's first loss in the Fed Cup. However, she maintained her perfect record in singles by defeating
and Errani. The week of April 20 marked Serena's 114th consecutive week ranked world No. 1, the third-longest run in WTA history, behind Steffi Graf's 186 weeks and Navratilova's 156.[] Williams suffered her first defeat of the season in the semifinals of the
to world No. 4, Petra Kvitová. This loss ended a 27-match winning streak for Williams as well as a 50-match winning streak at , and also a 19-match winning streak at the particular event. Williams played one match at the 2015
before withdrawing from the tournament with an elbow injury.
By virtue of having defeated Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the , Williams became the first woman in the Open Era to win 50 matches at all four of the Grand Slams. Williams then defeated
to reach her 40th Grand Slam singles quarterfinal. Serena won her next match easily, but had to come back from a set down in the semifinals versus
for the fourth time in five matches to reach the final. She would go on to defeat
in three sets to win her third French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title.
The win made Williams only the third person in history to win each Grand Slam at least three times, joining Margaret Court and Steffi Graf. She's the first player to win three straight Grand Slams since she did it herself during the Serena Slam. She also became the first player to win the Australian-French Open double since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.
Williams completed her second "Serena Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a row) by winning the
– her 6th Wimbledon and 21st
singles title overall. Her path to victory at Wimbledon was particularly challenging. She was down a double break in the third round versus
and two points from defeat twice before rallying for the win and becoming the first player to qualify for the
(the earliest that a player had qualified since the event switched to the round-robin format in 2003). Williams then defeated three –Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova—in succession to advance to the final. Awaiting her there was 21-year-old Garbi?e Muguruza, who had previously handed Williams the worst Grand Slam tournament defeat of her career at the 2014 French Open. Williams defeated Muguruza in a tight two-setter.
The victory made Williams the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a grand slam singles title, in addition to having the distinction of being the oldest ladies' grand slam singles champion of all time. It also was her eighth consecutive victory in Grand Slam singles finals appearances,
from 1995 through 1999 and, on the men's side,
from 1995 through 2000. Her 21st Grand Slam singles titles equaled the tally of the rest of the women's tour, combined. The week of July 13 marked the first time in WTA history that the No. 1 player had more than twice as many points as No. 2. Following her win at Wimbledon, Williams was awarded her 7th
Williams played one match at the
before withdrawing with an elbow injury. She was the defending champion at the
but withdrew from the tournament in order for her elbow to get better. Williams had her 19 match winning streak ended by 18-year-old Swiss , the world No. 20, in three tight sets in the semifinals of the . It was her second defeat of the year and first on hard courts since the 2014 WTA Finals. The next week Williams defended her title at the
with a straight sets victory over world No. 3 Simona Halep for her 69th WTA title, breaking a tie with
for standalone fifth-most WTA titles won. Williams's attempt at capturing the "Grand Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar year) came to an end in the semifinals of the , where she lost to Roberta Vinci in three sets. The loss has been described by some as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Nonetheless, Williams secured the year-end No. 1 ranking with her results at the tournament. On October 1, Williams called an end to her season, stating that she had been injured for most of the year and wanted to address her fitness issues. Prior to the announcement, coach
hinted that Williams might not play again in 2015 due to a lack of motivation and disappointment following her loss at the . On October 5, Williams surpassed Chris Evert for . Williams held the No. 1 ranking the entire season for the second consecutive year, finishing there for the fifth time in her career. She was voted
for the seventh time in her career. On December 14,
announced Williams as their . She thus became the third solo woman, and first since 1983, to receive the award. Williams was also named
for the sixth time in her career. Soon after, it was announced that she was voted
for the fourth time.
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Williams withdrew from the
after retiring from her singles match against
with inflammation of her left knee. Her next tournament was the , where she was the No. 1 seed and defending champion. She reached the final without dropping a set, including wins over No. 5, Maria Sharapova, and No. 4, Agnieszka Radwańska, and faced first time Grand Slam finalist . She was considered the heavy favorite to win the title, as she had never lost an Australian Open final or semi-final. She also dominated the head-to-head against Kerber, having lost only once in six meetings and having not lost a set to her in four years. However, Serena lost the final in three sets and Kerber won her first Grand Slam title. This marked Williams's first-ever loss in the final of the Australian Open, as well as her first three-set loss in the final of a Grand Slam. She had previously been 6–0 and 8–0 respectively.
Serena at the 2016 Wimbledon, winning her 22nd Grand Slam title
The week of February 15 marked Serena's 157th consecutive week ranked world No. 1, passing Navratilova's mark of 156 to have the second-longest run in WTA history behind Steffi Graf's 186. She competed in
as the No. 1 seed. She reached her first final here since winning in 2001 and before boycotting the event, by defeating Simona Halep in the quarterfinals and Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. She did not drop a set en route to the final. However, Serena was upset by No. 13 seed Victoria Azarenka, whom she had defeated the last five times the pair had met, in straight sets. This marked the first time since 2004 where Williams lost two consecutive finals. She next played the
as the defending champion. She lost in the fourth round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. This marked her first loss here since 2012 and ended her 20 match winning streak in Miami. This was also her earliest exit here since 2000, where she lost in the same round. During the clay court swing, Serena withdrew from Madrid but entered Rome. She beat
to progress to the quarterfinals where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova to avenge her loss in Miami. She then went on to beat
to win her 70th career WTA title and to win her first title of the year. This was her third Rome title in four years and fourth overall.
At the , Williams dropped only one set en route to the final. She defeated
in the quarter-finals despite being five points away from losing. She then beat surprise semi-finalist
to reach her fourth French Open final where she faced Garbi?e Muguruza in a repeat of last year's Wimbledon final where Williams was victorious. However, the result was not the same as that Wimbledon final as Williams lost to Muguruza in straight sets. With this loss, Serena had lost two consecutive Grand Slam finals for the first time in her career. On top of failing to equal Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams also completed the Career Grand Slam runner-up set with this loss.
At , Williams only lost one set en route to the final where she faced Angelique Kerber in a rematch of their Australian Open final earlier in the year. This time, Serena defeated Kerber in straight sets to finally equal Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slams in the Open Era. This was Serena's first Grand Slam title of the year, as well as her 71st career WTA title overall. In what was a brilliant serving performance, Serena only faced one break point in the whole match against Kerber which she saved with an ace. Later that day, Serena partnered with sister Venus to win their sixth Wimbledon doubles title and 14th doubles Grand Slam title overall, keeping their perfect record at Grand Slam doubles finals intact. On July 24, 2016, Williams withdrew from
citing a shoulder inflammation injury. She next participated in the
in , where she was the defending gold medalist in both singles and doubles and was the heavy favourite to retain those titles. Partnering with her sister Venus in the doubles, they suffered a shock exit in the first round, losing to the Czech duo of Lucie ?afá?ová and Barbora Str?cová, which ended their career record of 15–0 dating back to the . In singles, after defeating
in the first two rounds, Williams faced Ukraine's
in the third round in what was a rematch of this year's French Open fourth round, but lost to the Ukrainian, bringing an end to her Olympics campaign. Days after the Olympics, Williams took a late wildcard for the , where she was the defending champion, but then decided to withdraw due to concerns from the same shoulder injury/inflammation from earlier in the summer.
The week of September 5, 2016, marked Serena's 186th consecutive week ranked world No. 1, equalling Steffi Graf's record for longest run in WTA history. However, in the semifinals of the US Open, Serena lost to . Having won the US Open, Angelique Kerber became the world No. 1, ending Williams's No. 1 streak. Williams also pulled out of the WTA Finals due to a shoulder injury.
Williams started her 2017 season by participating in the
for the first time in her career. She defeated
to win her first match played since the US Open. In the second round however, Williams surprisingly lost to . Williams displayed her top form from the outset of the Australian Open. Serena beat former and present top 10 players , Lucie ?afá?ová,
among others to reach her 8th Australian Open Final. On January 28, 2017, Williams won the Australian Open for an Open Era record seventh time, defeating her sister, Venus. This was her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22. It was the first time in the Open Era that two players aged 35 or older competed in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The win ensured her return to the No. 1 ranking. Williams subsequently withdrew from the
Opens, citing a knee injury. However, on April 19, 2017, she revealed that she was 20 weeks pregnant and would miss the remainder of the season. The timing means that she would have been roughly eight-weeks pregnant when she won the Australian Open. In interviews, she maintained that she intended to return to tennis after her pregnancy, including setting the (in her own words) "outrageous plan" of competing in the 2018 Australian Open. On September 1, 2017, Williams gave birth to a daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Despite being absent from the game, she ended the season ranked world No. 22.
On December 30, 2017 Williams played an exhibition match at the
in , losing to reigning Roland Garros Champion
2–6, 6–3, [5–10]. This was her first match since giving birth. However, on January 5, 2018 Williams withdrew from the upcoming Australian Open, citing a lack of sufficient preparation in the wake of her pregnancy. Shortly after her announcement an interview with
was published in which Williams revealed that she had suffered another pulmonary embolism after giving birth, leaving her bedridden for six weeks and delaying her return to training.
After overcoming her pregnancy induced problems, Williams returned to the tennis court with her sister. They lost 6–2 6–3 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs (Netherlands) in the Fed Cup's first round on February 11.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams, Australian Open 2009
Williams has played older sister
in 28 professional matches since 1998. Overall, Serena is 17–11 against her sister. Serena has played Venus 15 times in Grand Slam singles and 13 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals). They have met in nine Grand Slam tournament finals, with Serena winning seven times. Beginning with the , they played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, which was the first time in the
that the same two players had contested consecutive finals in Grand Slam singles.[]
Williams leads series 7–6. One of Williams's first rivalries was with Martina Hingis, who turned pro less than one year before her (Hingis in October 1994, Williams in 1995). They first played each other at the 1998 Miami Open where Hingis won in three sets. All but one of their matches was played on a hard court with the exception being a contest on clay in Rome 1999, which Hingis won in straight sets. Their last match took place at the 2002 Miami Open with Williams winning in a loss of just four games. Hingis was forced to briefly retire citing ankle injuries.
Williams leads series 10–7. Once considered one of the best rivalries in women's tennis, the competition between Williams and Capriati was stiff with 12 out of their 17 meetings going to 3 sets. The rivalry, starting in 1999, began one sided with Capriati winning 4 of their first 5 matches. Serena would then go on to win the next 8. Williams and Capriati played with similar styles, both known for using their power and athleticism to gain quick advantages in points.
Williams leads series 8–6. Henin and Williams met 14 times, five of which were in tournament finals. In grand slams they have faced each other seven times with Justine leading 4–3. Opposite personalities and styles of play are often cited as what made their rivalry entertaining. In the semifinals of the 2003 French Open, when at 4–2, 30–0 on Williams's serve in the third set, Henin raised her hand to indicate she was
Williams then put her serve into the net. The umpire did not see Henin raise her hand, and thus did not allow Williams a first serve. Williams lost the game and would go on to lose the match. Their last match took place in the final of the 2010 Australian Open where Williams won in three sets, earning her 12th Grand Slam title.
When both the Williams sisters entered the top ten and started meeting in tournaments, unsubstantiated rumors of
started to circulate. , while commenting on the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters, said that "Serena may not be allowed to win. Richard may have something to say about this." , a fellow professional player, said during a post match interview after losing to Venus at the Indian Wells quarterfinals in 2001, that Richard Williams decided the results between the two sisters. Venus pulling out at the last minute garnered much speculation in the press, with fans demanding their money back.
After injuring herself in the quarterfinal match against Dementieva, her sister, Venus Williams, defaulted to Serena in the semifinals. Although Venus told the tournament official hours beforehand that she would have to default, the official word was not given until 10 minutes before the scheduled start (in the hopes that Venus would change her mind), angering fans who had come to see the match. Consequently, during the final against Kim Clijsters two days later, the spectators jeered Serena from when she first took the court for warm-up through the final trophy presentation including cheering double faults and errors with no intervention from the tournament officials. Despite these attacks, Serena went on to win the tournament.
At the Ericsson Open the following week, Richard Williams said racist comments were made to him in the stands, and the tournament director refused to offer Serena an apology for how she was treated. As a result, neither sister played the tournament even though it had become a mandatory stop on the WTA tour since 2009. In 2015, Serena decided to end her 14-year boycott and played.
quarterfinal match against , an incorrect overrule was made by chair umpire , the video review showed this to be an error (as Williams's shot was inside the court. This quarter-final match (did test the new technology – during the match) was testing the new technology. There were incorrect lines calls made late in the third set of the match. Williams argued with the chair over a couple of calls during the match, but was not successful. Capriati won the match, but tournament officials dismissed Alves from the tournament, and she was suspended. The controversy renewed calls and widely given credit for the adoption of technology like the
semifinal round against , Williams slammed her racquet on the court after losing the first set. She was given a warning, with a potential second violation carrying a one-point penalty. While trailing 4–6, 5–6, 15–30, Williams's second serve was called a , resulting in two match points for Clijsters. Williams gestured with her racquet to the lineswoman who had made the call and yelled at her, with profanities and a threat to shove a tennis ball down the lineswoman's throat. During the subsequent on-court conference between the chair umpire, the lineswoman, US Open officials, and Williams, a t