Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 18 in singles as of November 10, 2014. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first American black woman to achieve this feat during the Open Era. She is credited as changing the women's game and ushering a new, modern era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. She is also regarded as the best grass court player of her generation and she is widely considered as one of the all-time greats of women's tennis.

Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her seventh on the all time list, and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. Her 22 overall Grand Slam titles consist of seven in singles, thirteen in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her five Wimbledon singles titles tie her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list. Venus Williams is one of only four women in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles. Between the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only five women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches.

Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women's doubles. She and her sister Serena have won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis players. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924.

With 45 career singles titles, Williams is behind only her sister Serena amongst active players on the WTA Tour. Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest winning streak since January 1, 2000. She is also one of only three active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, the other players being her sister Serena Williams and Russian Maria Sharapova.

Venus Williams has played against her sister Serena Williams in 25 professional matches since 1998, with Venus winning 11 of the 25 matches. They have played against each other in eight Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they opposed each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the Open Era that the same two players played against each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals. On the doubles side, the pair have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles playing alongside each other.

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