On this day in history, September 26, 1981, Serena Jameka Williams, a legendary athlete, was born in Saginaw, Michigan.
Raised in Compton, home-schooled and coached by parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams (with an early stint at Rick Macci’s academy in Florida) before turning pro in 1995.
That year, she announced herself with a first major at the 1999 US Open, then detonated the field from 2002–03: four straight majors, each time over sister Venus Williams, to complete the first “Serena Slam.” She’d do it again in 2014–15.
Across 27 years of brilliance, Serena spent 319 weeks as world No. 1, finished five seasons at year-end No. 1, and stacked 73 singles titles, including 23 majors, the most in the Open Era and second-most all-time. In 2017, eight weeks pregnant, she won a record-breaking 23rd singles major at the Australian Open, easing past Steffi Graf’s Open Era mark.
With Venus, she put a permanent stamp on doubles: 14 major women’s doubles titles without a single finals loss (an unbeaten run), three women’s doubles Olympic golds together (an all-time joint record) and her own singles gold at London 2012, making her theonly player ever to achieve a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles and the only player, male or female, to own three career Golden Slams (one in singles, two in doubles).
She would go on to become the world’s highest-paid woman athlete in 2016, the only woman on Forbes’ top-100 list in 2017, and the highest-earning woman athlete of all time.
Some of her other accolades include becoming a four-time Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Sports Illustrated’s 2015 Sportsperson of the Year, Tennis Channel’s 2020 “greatest women’s player,” and, in 2025, she nabbed the Princess of Asturias Award for Sport.
Williams announced her “evolution” away from tennis in 2022, closing out at the US Open with a prime-time ovation that felt like a victory lap for a generation.
She now focuses on entrepreneurship through her venture capital firm Serena Ventures, owner of the Toronto Tempo WNBA team, and serves as a Women’s Health Advisor for the health brand Ritual. A devoted mother of two daughters, Williams also launched a new Stockton Street podcast with her sister Venus.
