Williams sisters facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

"Venus and Serena" redirects here. For the documentary, see Venus and Serena (film).

Venus and Serena

Venus

Serena

Highest singles
ranking:

No. 1
(February 25, 2002)

No. 1
(July 8, 2002)

Highest doubles
ranking:

No. 1
(June 7, 2010)

Women's singles titles:

Women's doubles titles:

Grand Slam
Women's singles titles:

7
(Wimbledon 2000/01/05/07/08,
US Open 2000/01)

23
(Aus Open 2003/05/07/09/10/15/17,
French Open 2002/13/15,
Wimbledon 2002/03/09/10/12/15/16,
US Open 1999/2002/08/12/13/14)

Grand Slam
Women's doubles titles:

14
(Aus Open 2001/03/09/10,
French Open 1999/2010,
Wimbledon 2000/02/08/09/12/16,
US Open 1999/2009)

Grand Slam mixed
doubles titles:

2
(Aus Open 1998,
French Open 1998)

2
(Wimbledon 1998,
US Open 1998)

Summer Olympics
Singles titles:

Gold (Sydney 2000)

Gold (London 2012)

Summer Olympics
Doubles titles:

Gold (Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, London 2012)

Fed Cup
titles:

1
(1999)

Plays:

Right-handed
(two-handed backhand)

Career Earnings:

,280,540 (2nd)

,518,971 (1st)

The Williams sisters are two amazing American tennis players: Venus Williams (born in 1980) and Serena Williams (born in 1981). Both sisters were taught tennis from a young age by their parents, Richard Williams and Oracene Price.

Venus has won seven major Grand Slam titles in singles, and Serena has won an incredible twenty-three! Their success in tennis is truly special. They achieved things that were once thought to be only for men, especially since tennis was not always open to women in the past.

Both sisters have been ranked as the world's No. 1 tennis players by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in both singles and doubles. In 2002, Venus and Serena made history. They were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in singles after the French Open. This was the first time ever that two sisters held the top two spots! They did it again in 2010, eight years later.

The sisters also had a famous professional rivalry in singles matches. Between 2001 and 2017, they played against each other in nine major finals. From the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open, they were the first players, male or female, to play in four major singles finals in a row. Serena won all four of these, completing her first "Serena Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams, but not in the same calendar year).

Even with their strong competition, Venus and Serena are very close. They often cheer for each other during matches, even if one of them has already been knocked out of a tournament.

Teamwork on the Court
- Grand Slam Doubles Wins
- Olympic Success
Doubles Titles and Finals
Team Competition Wins
Grand Slam Performance Highlights
- Women's Doubles Performance
- Grand Slam Singles Performance
Year-End Rankings
Indian Wells Tournament Incident
Images for kids
See Also

Teamwork on the Court

Venus and Serena have achieved incredible things together in doubles tennis.

Grand Slam Doubles Wins

By winning the 2001 Australian Open doubles title, they became only the fifth pair of women to win all four Grand Slam doubles titles in their careers. They were also the first pair to win a "career Golden Slam" in doubles. This means they won all four Grand Slam doubles titles plus an Olympic gold medal. At that time, Venus was only 20 and Serena was 19!

They continued to win, adding two more Olympic gold medals in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. They even held the No. 1 doubles ranking together in 2010. Their last major doubles title was at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.

Olympic Success

Together, Venus and Serena have won more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis players. Each sister has won four gold medals: one in singles and three in doubles, all won as a team. Venus also won a silver medal in mixed doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

They have achieved a "double career Golden Slam" in doubles. This means they won all four major events in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. They shared the four mixed doubles titles in 1998.

Doubles Titles and Finals

Venus and Serena have won many doubles titles throughout their careers. Here's a look at some of their major wins and finals.

Winner — Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (14–0)
Olympic Gold (3)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (2–0)
Premier (2–1)
International (1–0)

Finals by Surface
Hard (10–1)
Grass (7–0)
Clay (3–0)
Carpet (2–0)

Result	No.	Date	Tournaments	Surface	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	February 23, 1998	Oklahoma City, United States	Hard	Cătălina Cristea Kristine Kunce	7–5, 6–2
Win	2.	October 12, 1998	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet	Mariaan de Swardt Elena Tatarkova	5–7, 6–1, 6–3
Win	3.	February 15, 1999	Hanover, Germany	Carpet	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
Win	4.	May 24, 1999	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	6–3, 6–7^(2–7), 8–6
Loss	1.	August 8, 1999	San Diego, U.S.	Hard	Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu	4–6, 1–6
Win	5.	August 30, 1999	US Open, New York City, U.S.	Hard	Chanda Rubin Sandrine Testud	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win	6.	June 26, 2000	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–2
Win	7.	September 18, 2000	Summer Olympics, Sydney, Australia	Hard	Kristie Boogert Miriam Oremans	6–1, 6–1
Win	8.	January 15, 2001	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Win	9.	June 24, 2002	Wimbledon, London, U.K.	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–2, 7–5
Win	10.	January 13, 2003	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win	11.	July 5, 2008	Wimbledon, London, U.K.	Grass	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–2, 6–2
Win	12.	August 17, 2008	Summer Olympics, Beijing, China	Hard	Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual	6–2, 6–0
Win	13.	January 30, 2009	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Ai Sugiyama Daniela Hantuchová	6–3, 6–3
Win	14.	July 4, 2009	Wimbledon, London, U.K.	Grass	Samantha Stosur Rennae Stubbs	7–6^(7–4), 6–4
Win	15.	August 2, 2009	Stanford, U.S.	Hard	Chan Yung-jan Monica Niculescu	6–4, 6–1
Win	16.	September 14, 2009	US Open, New York City, U.S.	Hard	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–2, 6–2
Win	17.	January 29, 2010	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–4, 6–3
Win	18.	May 15, 2010	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Gisela Dulko Flavia Pennetta	6–2, 7–5
Win	19.	June 3, 2010	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	6–2, 6–3
Win	20.	July 7, 2012	Wimbledon, London, U.K.	Grass	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	7–5, 6–4
Win	21.	August 5, 2012	Summer Olympics, London, U.K.	Grass	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	6–4, 6–4
Win	22.	July 9, 2016	Wimbledon, London, U.K.	Grass	Tímea Babos Yaroslava Shvedova	6–3, 6–4

Team Competition Wins

The Williams sisters have also won team competitions for their country.

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partners	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	September 18–19, 1999	Fed Cup, Stanford, US	Hard	Lindsay Davenport Monica Seles	Elena Makarova Elena Likhovtseva Elena Dementieva	4–1

Grand Slam Performance Highlights

This section shows how well Venus and Serena have done in Grand Slam tournaments over the years, both in women's doubles and singles.

Women's Doubles Performance

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	A	P	Z#	PO	G	F-S	SF-B	NMS	NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Tournament	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Career W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	3R	SF	A	W	A	W	Absent				QF	W	W	Absent		QF	Absent									36–4
French Open	Absent		W	Absent									3R	W	Absent					3R	A	3R	Absent				17–3
Wimbledon	A	1R	A	W	3R	W	3R	Absent			2R	W	W	QF	A	W	A	2R	A	W	Absent						45–5
US Open	1R	A	W	SF	3R	Absent							W	Absent		3R	SF	QF	Absent							1R	25–7
Win–loss	0–1	2–1	16–1	10–0	10–1	6–0	8–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	9–1	20–1	14–1	0–0	8–1	7–2	4–2	0–0	8–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	125–15
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held			G	Not Held			A	Not Held			G	Not Held			G	Not Held			1R	Not Held				A	Not Held	15–1
Year-end championships
WTA Finals	Did not qualify		A	Did not qualify									SF	A	Did not qualify												0–1

Note: Serena Williams did not play at the 2004 Olympics due to an injury. Venus played with another American player, Chanda Rubin, and they lost in the first round.

Grand Slam Singles Performance

This table shows the best result either Venus or Serena achieved in singles at each Grand Slam tournament.

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	A	NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

(W) Won tournament: final contested by the Williams sisters.

Tournament	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	SR
Australian Open	A	QF^V	QF^V	4R^S	SF^V	QF^V	W^S	3R^V	W^S	3R^S	W^S	QF^SV	W^S	W^S	3R^V	4R^S	QF^S	4R^S	W^S	F^S	W^S	1R^V	QF^S	3R^S	SF^S	A	A	7 / 24
French Open	2R^V	QF^V	4R^V	QF^V	QF^S	W^S	SF^S	QF^SV	3R^V	QF^V	QF^S	3R^SV	QF^S	QF^S	A	2R^V	W^S	2R^SV	W^S	F^S	4R^V	4R^S	3R^S	2R^S	4R^S	A	A	3 / 23
Wimbledon	1R^V	QF^V	QF^V	W^V	W^V	W^S	W^S	F^S	W^V	3R^V	W^V	W^V	W^S	W^S	4R^SV	W^S	4R^S	3R^SV	W^S	W^S	F^V	F^S	F^S	NH	2R^V	1R^S	1R^V	12 / 26
US Open	F^V	SF^V	W^S	W^V	W^V	W^S	A	QF^S	QF^V	4R^S	SF^V	W^S	SF^S	SF^V	F^S	W^S	W^S	W^S	SF^S	SF^S	SF^V	F^S	F^S	SF^S	A	3R^S	1R^V	8 / 24

Year-End Rankings

This table shows where Venus and Serena ranked at the end of each year in their careers. They consistently stayed at the top of the tennis world!

Player	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Venus	205	216	22	5	3	3	3	2	11	9	10	46	8	6	6	5	102	24	49	18	7	17	5	40	53	78	318
Serena			99	20	4	6	6	1	3	7	11	95	7	2	1	4	12	3	1	1	1	2	22	16	10	11	41

Indian Wells Tournament Incident

At the 2001 Indian Wells Open tournament, Venus Williams had to withdraw from her semifinal match against Serena.

The next day, Serena played in the final. When their father, Richard Williams, and Venus came to watch, some people in the crowd booed them. Serena also heard booing during her match, which she won. The booing continued even during the awards ceremony.

Images for kids

Gold medal