Venus Ebony Starr Williams born on June 17th, 1980 is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is currently ranked World No. 53 as of May 28, 2012, in singles.
She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association on 3 separate occasions. She went on to become the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25th, 2002, becoming the first black woman to achieve this particular feat during the Open Era.
Her 21 Grand Slam titles tie her for twelfth on the all-time list and are more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. Venus Williams’ titles consist of seven in singles, twelve in women’s doubles, and two in mixed doubles.
Those seven Grand Slam singles titles tie her with four other women for a twelfth place on the all-time list. 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 three women in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles.
From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships through 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 three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women’s doubles. She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. 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 43 career singles titles, Williams leads 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 two active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, the other player being her sister Serena Williams.
Venus Williams has played against her sister Serena Williams in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of the 23 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, let alone sisters. On the doubles side, the pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles playing alongside each other.
