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Serena Williams Facts & Worksheets

Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles on eight different occasions from 2002 to 2017.

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Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles on eight different occasions from 2002 to 2017 by the Women’s Tennis Association. Her nickname is ReRe.

See the fact file below for more information on the Serena Williams or alternatively, you can download our 26-page Serena Williams worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life and Education

  • Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene Price.
  • She moved to Compton, California with her family when she was still young.
  • Serena Williams was homeschooled by her father.
  • When Serena Williams was nine years old, they moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. There, she went to the tennis academy of Rick Macci.

Career Beginnings

  • Serena Williams started playing tennis when she was three years old.
  • One of Serena Williams’ coaches in Compton, California was named Richard Williams, who had the same name as her father.
  • Her coach was the founder of The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis/Tutorial Academy.
  • When Serena Williams was ten years old, her father made her focus on school work and stopped her from joining national tennis tournaments.
  • She and her sister, Venus, experienced racist remarks during these tournaments, which was one reason why they stopped playing in them.
  • She was ranked number one among the players aged under 10 in Florida.
  • In 1995, Serena Williams stopped attending Rick Macci’s academy and was coached by her father.
  • In 1995, after turning 14, Serena Williams was set to make her professional debut as a wild card entry in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California. She was denied because she was too young.

Career Achievements

  • In 1997, Serena Williams won her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago.
  • Serena Williams became the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top 10 opponents in one tournament.
  • In 1999, Serena Williams won her first professional singles title in the Open Gaz de France in Paris.
  • In March 1999, at the Evert Cup in California, Serena Williams won her first Tier I title.
  • At the Miami Masters in 1999, Serena Williams had her 16-match winning period finished by her sister, Venus, in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history.
  • In the US Open final 1999, Serena Williams was able to beat No. 1, Hingis, and became the second African-American woman, after Althea Gibson in 1958, to bag a Grand Slam singles tournament.
  • In 2001, Serena Williams and her sister Venus completed a “Career Grand Slam.”
  • Serena Williams went on to win her first clay-court title at the Italian Open 2001.
  • In the French Open at Roland Garros in 2001, Serena Williams won her first title. As a result of winning the trophy at Court Philippe Chatrier, she rose to No. 2.
  • At Wimbledon 2002, she won tennis’s oldest championship for the first time in her life to win a Grand Slam singles title which made Serena Williams rank No. 1 for the first time, ousting her sister. She became the third African-American woman to hold that rank.
  • In the final of 2003 Australian Open, Serena Williams became the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, and the fifth woman to win all Grand Slam singles titles all at the same time. This earned her the nickname “Serena Slam.”
  • Serena Williams ended 2013 in No. 1 for the third time, which made her the oldest No. 1 player in WTA history and the 2013 ITF World Champion, which was the fourth time that she has been given the World Champion’s crown.
  • Serena Williams received two prizes at the 2013 ESPY Awards, which were Best Female Athlete and Best Female Tennis Player. She topped off the year by receiving the Associated Press 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award.
  • In 2014, Serena Williams was appointed WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion for a third consecutive year (sixth overall).
  • Serena Williams started the 2015 season by representing the United States together with John Isner at the Hopman Cup in January.
  • In 2017, Serena Williams started the season by joining the WTA Auckland Open for the first time in her career. She won her first match played since the US Open.
  • On January 28, 2017, Williams won the Australian Open for an Open Era record seventh time. This was her 23rd Grand Slam singles title which made her exceed Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22. It was the first time in the Open Era that two players aged 35 or older played against each other in the final of a Grand Slam tournament which made her return to the No. 1 ranking.

Personal Life

  • On December 29, 2016, Serena Williams got engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and they married in New Orleans last November 16, 2017.
  • On April 19, 2017, Serena Williams announced her pregnancy and gave birth to their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., on September 1, 2017.
  • Serena Williams had a cesarean section delivery because of complications, particularly a blood clot in her lungs which is called a pulmonary embolism.

Press Features and Advocacies

  • In 2015, she became the first black female athlete to be on the cover of Vogue – which was for the April 2015 issue.
  • In 2016, Serena Williams supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
  • In 2008, Serena Williams helped finance the construction of the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya.
  • The Serena Williams Foundation gives out university scholarships for indigent students in the United States.
  • In 2016, the Serena Williams Fund collaborated with Helping Hands Jamaica to construct the Salt Marsh Primary School for Jamaican youths in Trelawny Parish.
  • Serena Williams was awarded Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundation in 2003 for her work with breast cancer awareness.
  • Serena Williams also won the “Young Heroes Award” in 2003 and 2004.
  • In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Serena Williams, together with other ATP and WTA stars, formed a charity event and the proceeds went to the Haiti earthquake victims.
  • Serena Williams and her sister Venus are supporters and contributors of First Serve Miami, which is a foundation for youths who want to learn tennis but are socially and economically challenged.
  • Serena Williams has been an International Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF since 2011.
  • In 2016, the Williams sisters worked together in the Williams Sisters Fund as philanthropists, working to establish the Yetunde Price Resource Center which helps and supports families affected by community violence.
  • In 2015, Serena Williams’ collaborated with the Equal Justice Initiative, which is a non-profit organization that provides legal representation to those who might have been denied a fair trial.
  • In 2014, Serena Williams started hosting a yearly charity run named “The Serena Williams Ultimate Fun Run” that supports the Serena Williams Fund.

Serena Williams Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Serena Williams across 26 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Serena Williams worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Serena Jameka Williams who is an American professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles on eight different occasions from 2002 to 2017 by the Women’s Tennis Association. Her nickname is ReRe.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Serena Williams Facts
  • All About Serena
  • Serena the Star Player
  • Hit or Miss
  • Serena Word Hunt
  • Serena’s Family
  • Athlete-Advocate
  • Serena Says
  • Award-winning Headliner
  • Serena’s Sister
  • Beyond Tennis

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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