Serena Williams: Revolutionizing Women's Tennis

Serena Williams: 23 Hit Wonder Serena Williams has had the most impact on tennis of any female tennis player. She was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and started playing tennis at the age of three, something she was pushed to do by her father (Davis). Due to her natural talent and hard work, she became one of the best female tennis players in the world. This led her to win her first Grand Slam title at 17 years old, and she subsequently became the number one ranked women’s singles player in the world three years later (Fagan). Her aggressive and powerful play style changed women’s tennis forever, and her legacy is unlikely to ever be matched. Serena Williams is the most dominant female tennis player of all time, and perhaps the most dominant female

Williams stands as the most decorated female tennis player of all time, holding a record breaking number of titles in multiple categories (Serena). She holds 23 women’s singles Grand Slam titles (second to only Margaret Court, who holds 24) and a total of 72 singles titles, a women’s tennis record. On top of her women’s singles titles, she’s also obtained 14 Grand Slam doubles titles along with her older sister Venus Williams, making her and her sister the most accomplished women’s duo of all time. Delving deeper into her tennis related accomplishments, she holds four Olympic gold medals for tennis, another all time record. Her success on the court is evident, and based on titles alone, she’s the undisputed most accomplished tennis player. Expanding past tennis, Williams also has a net worth of $150 million, making her the only woman on the Forbes top 100 list of highest paid athletes (Worlds). That itself is notable, as women's athletics is typically perceived as lesser in comparison to men's athletics. Williams is the most accomplished female tennis player, and one of the most accomplished female athletes of all

To begin, Williams and her sister are perhaps the most relevant female athletes ever. On the Forbes top 100 list of highest paid athletes, Serena Williams stands as the only female athlete on the list. This is notable, as it shows that Williams has been dominant, and relevant enough to be compared her historically more relevant male peers. Next, Williams made tennis American. Tennis has typically been a white, European sport. In spite of this, Serena Williams put America back on top, cementing both her country and her race’s relevancy in tennis. Lastly, due to her sheer dominance, Williams changed the way female tennis is played. Before her entrance into tennis, women’s tennis was played in a slow, methodical way. Williams changed this, and forced the metagame into a more athletic, powerful, and aggressive style. Williams has had a successful career, and has changed the world around