Tennis Betting - Famous Players
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is a talented U.S tennis player, who has been in the top of the WTA rankings in several occasions.
Serena started playing tennis when she was a little kid. At four years old, Serena had already won her first tournament. Before her tenth birthday, she had recorded 46 victories in 49 tournaments. She became the best No.1 player under-12 in the U.S.
In 1995, with barely 14 years of age, Serena turned professional. At the beginning it took her a little to excel, and that is because due to her age she could not compete in WTA events. Her first major event was the Bell Challenge in Quebec, where she was eliminated quickly. This did not discourage her. Serena continued playing and won several matches, which helped her to improve from the 453rd to the 304th place in the world rankings.
1997
She participated in the Ameritech Open, where she beat Monica Seles and Mary Pierce, the world No. 2 and No.5 at the time, respectively. In the semifinals, Lindsay Davenport defeated her with a score of 6-4 and 6-4. This result helped Serena to be placed in the top 100, ranked as world´s No. 99.
1998
Serena gets to participate in her first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, where she was eliminated in the second round after been defeated by her sister Venus Williams 7-6, 6-1. During the season she reached the quarterfinals in six different tournaments.
At Roland Garros, she competed in mixed doubles together with Luis Lobo, with whom she reached the semifinals. Then with Max Mirnyi she obtained the Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and U.S. Open. With her sister Venus, she won the titles at Oklahoma and Zurich.
1999
In 1999 she won the Tournament at Paria, after beating Amelie Mauresmo. At Indian Wells she beat Lindsay Davenport (No. 2), Mary Pierce (No. 8) and defeated Steffi Graf (No. 7) in the final. In the Australia Open she was eliminated in the third round. Due to injury, Serena could not compete at Wimbledon.
At 17, Serena Williams had won five major titles (Paris, Indian Wells, Manhattan Beach, U.S. Open and the Grand Slam Cup). At the end of that year, Serena had risen to the fourth place of the world rankings.
2000
In the Australian Open, Serena reached the fourth round but was eliminated by Elena Likhovtseva. She recovered from this and won the tournament of Hannover after beating Denisa Chladkova. Later, due to an untimely injury, she could only participate in eleven tournaments.
Upon recovery, Serena reaches the semifinals at Wimbledon, where her sister Venus defeated her. Not to lose their beat both William’s sisters claimed the doubles title in this tournament.
In the Tournament of Los Angeles Serena won the title after beating Lindsay Davenport in the final. In Montreal, again, she suffered the same injury so she had to retire, giving the victory to Martina Hingis.
On her return to the courts, she advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, where Lindsay Davenport beat her.
Despite the above results, Serena closed the year in great way after obtaining the gold medal in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
2001
Serena started the year with two losses, in Sydney and in the Australian Open against Martina Hingis. However, in the Australia's Open she won the doubles title with her sister Venus. Later, she defeated Kim Clijsters in the final of Indian Wells.
Jennifer Capriati finished with Serena´s run in Miami, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In this last competition she won the doubles title with her sister. From that moment on a strong rivalry between Capriati and Serena was born.
These two players met again in Toronto, where Serena was the winner. Serena Williams did an amazing job defending her title in this tournament after defeating the best players of the world to reach the final. There she faced her younger sister, but lost against her.
This year, Serena finished with another title in her record, the WTA Tour Championship, which she won after Lindsay Davenport withdraws due to injury.
2002
This has been one of the best years for Serena Williams. She won the titles at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. Of the 11 tournaments she participated, she won 8. She set a record of 56 victories and 5 losses. With this impressive mark she was situated in first place of the WTA rankings during 57 consecutive weeks. She also won in doubles at Wimbledon, again with her sister Venus.
2003
This was also a good year for Serena Williams. Although she only participated in eight tournaments, she won five of them.
Her good run led Serena to her fourth consecutive Grand Slam trophy after winning the Australian Open. In the same tournament, she won the doubles title again with her sister. The two Williams kept their momentum and won at Wimbledon. Serena also won singles in Paris and Miami.
2004
Due to various injuries, Serena Williams could not compete in the Australian Open. Thanks to a good recovery she participated in the Miami Masters, where she won the tournament by beating Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1 in the final match.
In Roland Garros she reached the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon she finished as runner-up. A left knee injury forced her to withdraw from the San Diego tournament and resign from competition during the month of August. She also missed the Athens Olympics in 2004.
She returned to competition in September, where she reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after Capriati eliminated her. Then she won in Beijing and was runner-up in the WTA Championship.
This year Serena did not have a good performance due to her injuries, closing the season No.8 in the WTA rankings.
2005
The older of the Williams made a big leap in her career by winning her seventh Grand Slam title in the Australian Open.
When everything seemed to be on track, again the injuries attacked Serena. She had to stay away from the tennis environment for a while. She participated in 10 games, but she didn’t obtain good results. These include Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, where she finished in third and fourth rounds respectively.
After the U.S. Open, Serena played in the tournament of Beijing, where she was eliminated in the second round. To try to recover fully from her injuries, Serena decided not to continue playing for the rest of the season.
2006
Serena continued having injuries, for that reason she only participated in four tournaments during the season.
In the Australian Open she reached the third round. Serena did not compete in Wimbledon or Roland Garros, due to her knee problems. This pulled her out of the top 100 of the WTA for the first time in her career.
Serena participated in Cincinnati and Los Angeles. In both tournaments, she was eliminated in the semifinals. She received a wildcard for the U.S. Open, but she never got beyond the fourth round as she was eliminated by Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
2007
After several months of inactivity Serena came back and competed in the Hoobart Tournament, where she lost in the quarterfinals.
In the Australian Open, she gave an outstanding demonstration of her talent by defeating each of her rivals, to reach the final, where she crushed Maria Sharapova with a 6-1, 6-2. She won the Miami Masters after beating world No.1, Justine Henin.
In Roland Garros she reached the final. There she faced Henin, who went on to win the tournament. In Wimbledon’s quarterfinals Serena and Henin met again. Henin eliminated Williams.
In the U.S. Open Henin and Serena met, sure enough, once again. This time Serena had to conform just by reaching the quarterfinals.
2008
This time, Serena could not defend her Australian Open title after been eliminated by Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals. She achieved her fifth title in the Miami Masters after defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final.
In Roland Garros and Wimbledon she was eliminated in the third round and in the final respectively.
In the Beijing Olympics of 2008, Serena William obtained a new triumph with her sister Venus: the gold medal in doubles. Surprisingly, without losing a set, Serena won the U.S. Open after defeating Jelena Janković.
2009
Serena Williams obtained her tenth Grand Slam title in the Australian Open, after beating Dinara Safina. Together with her sister Venus, she won the doubles title in this tournament as well.
At Roland Garros, Serena lost in the quarter-finals against Kuznetsova 7-6 (4), 5-7, 7-5. At Wimbledon she defeated her sister in the final and won her third title in this tournament.
In the U.S. Open, she was eliminated in the semifinals by Kim Clijsters. She closed the year with her second WTA Tour Championships title after beating her sister in the final.
2010
This year she won her second straight title in singles and doubles at the Australian Open