Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former World No. 1 ranked female tennis player who has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in women's doubles.She is currently the top ranked American female player. She is the last player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. In 2005, Tennis magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is the younger sister of another former World No. 1 professional female tennis player, Venus Williams. Serena currently resides at Ballen Isles in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Serena Williams and her sister Venus became stars of women's tennis in the late 1990s. The sisters were African-Americans, then a rarity in pro tennis, and quickly became known for their powerful games and flashy outfits. Like Tiger Woods, Serena and Venus were child prodigies who began playing their chosen game before kindergarten. Serena is a year younger than Venus and (at 5'10") about three inches shorter, but she was the first sister to win a major tournament by claiming the singles title at the 1999 U.S. Open. Serena went on to become the dominant women's tennis player of the early 2000s; in 2002-03 she won the "Serena slam" by holding all four grand slam titles at once: the 2002 French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles, and the 2003 Australian Open. Her other major titles are Wimbledon in 2003 and the Australian Open in 2005 and 2007.
Anna Sergeevna Kurnikova; born on June 7, 1981)She is a semi-retired Russian professional tennis player and model. Her celebrity made her one of the best known tennis players worldwide.
She has had some success at the singles game, reaching #8 in the world in 2000, but her specialty has been doubles, where she has at times been the world's No.1 doubles player. With Martina Hings as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002. Kournikova's major-league tennis career has been curtailed for the past several years, and possibly ended, by serious back and spinal problems.
Kournikova was born in Moscow in the former Soviet Union to Alla and Sergei Kournikov; she and her mother later emigrated to the United States. Currently, she resides in Miami Beach, Florida, and plays in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St.Louis Aces of World Team Tennis.
Her fastest serve was clocked at 111.2 mph during the Paris Indoors of 1998.
May 2002: has been voted "the sexiest woman in the world" in the magazine "FHM" (Australian version).
Has never won a major tennis tournament, as of January 2004.
It is announced that Kournikova was voted the Sexiest Woman in the World in FHM's 100 Sexiest Girls poll for 2002, American edition. [May 2002]
Knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round. [June 2002]
Ranked 299th in the world (as of October 2003).
Has a tattoo of a sun design on her lower back, which made its "debut" at the 2003 Australian Open. Oddly, she denied having it, telling reporters that it was actually a heat patch to treat back pain.
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