See how Serena Williams became one of the all-time greats by watching one of the most complete tennis performances in the history of American tennis. She lost in three sets 6–3 6–7 (7–0 6–1) to compatriot Monica Seles in the 1996 U.S. Open, a win in which she took the first career U.S. Open singles title. (The match took place in the finals of the U.S. Open, the first women’s professional tennis tournament.) Williams went on to win five out of six U.S. Open singles, then the Wimbledon title in 1997, becoming the first athlete to win five majors at the same time. On July 25, 2013, Williams earned her 2,095th match victory, which made her the all-time career leader. Williams, at age 24, became the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the age of 26—which placed her above Serena. Williams ended the 2014 season by winning her fourth Grand Slam singles title, at Wimbledon in July. During the 2016 season, Williams won her sixth title—the French Open.
The woman who would become the first female Wimbledon finalist to win the title is not only a tennis star, but also a human tornado. Serena is a force of nature who tears up a court with her incredible athleticism.
Born in Oklahoma City, Serena received her first tennis instruction at the age of five. The young tennis prodigy had a head start over her peers because of the tennis courts at her hometown park and an indoor tennis court that was located across the street. Serena Williams attended the University of Oklahoma on a tennis Scholarship and was a four-time All American at the center of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Serena was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in the early years of her career. She won the NCAA singles final in 1988 and was a two-time NCAA runner-up in doubles.