Serena Williams has signed a first-look TV deal with Amazon, which includes a docuseries about her personal and professional life.
“I’m very excited to be partnering with Amazon Studios – they are developing some of the most inspiring and important content for a global audience,” Williams said. “I have a lot of stories I’m eager to tell, including a continuation of my own, and I look forward to sharing those with the world.
Under the deal, the 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion will develop both scripted and unscripted projects at Amazon, starting with the untitled docuseries. That project will be produced by Plum Pictures, Goalhanger Films and Amazon Studios and is executive produced by Williams, Patrick Mouratoglou, Stuart Cabb, and Tony Pastor.
“Serena has transformed her sport and become one of the most inspiring athletes, entrepreneurs and women of her generation, admired not only for her unmatched prowess on the court but for her dedication to advocacy as well,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “We’re incredibly excited to share her journey in this new series, and to work with her to create new original content for our Prime Video customers worldwide.”
Williams is one of the most dominant athletes alive today. Her tennis career includes title wins in all four Grand Slam tournaments, 72 singles and 23 doubles championships, and four Olympic gold medals including two in 2012 in both singles and doubles.
Off the court, Williams has launched businesses such as the S by Serena clothing line as well as Serena Ventures. She also supports charitable organizations such as the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton, CA.
Serena Williams
Williams at the 2013 US Open
|
|
Full name | Serena Jameka Williams |
---|---|
Country (sports) | United States |
Residence | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.[1] |
Born | September 26, 1981 Saginaw, Michigan, U.S. |
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1] |
Turned pro | October 1995 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Coach | Richard Williams (1994–) Oracene Price Patrick Mouratoglou (2012–)[2] |
Prize money | US$ 94,236,271[3] |
Official website | www |
Singles | |
Career record | 851–148 (85.2%) |
Career titles | 73 (5th in overall rankings) |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (July 8, 2002) |
Current ranking | No. 8 (April 5, 2021) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | W (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017) |
French Open | W (2002, 2013, 2015) |
Wimbledon | W (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016) |
US Open | W (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014) |
Other tournaments | |
Grand Slam Cup | W (1999) |
Tour Finals | W (2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014) |
Olympic Games | W (2012) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 190–34 (84.8%) |
Career titles | 23 |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (June 21, 2010) |
Current ranking | No. 406 (February 22, 2021) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010) |
French Open | W (1999, 2010) |
Wimbledon | W (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016) |
US Open | W (1999, 2009) |
Other doubles tournaments | |
Tour Finals | SF (2009) |
Mixed doubles | |
Career record | 27–4 (87.1%) |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (1999) |
French Open | F (1998) |
Wimbledon | W (1998) |
US Open | W (1998) |
Team competitions | |
Fed Cup | W (1999), record 17–3 |
Hopman Cup | W (2003, 2008) |
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Last updated on: February 22, 2021. |
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player and former world No. 1 in women’s single tennis. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court (24). The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. She reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time on July 8, 2002. On her sixth occasion, she held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf. In total, she has been No. 1 for 319 weeks, which ranks third in the Open Era among female players behind Graf and Martina Navratilova.
Williams is widely regarded to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her 39 Grand Slam titles put her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women’s doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15) and the third player to achieve this twice, after Rod Laver and Graf. She is also the most recent player to have won a Grand Slam title on each surface (hard, clay and grass) in one calendar year (2015). She is also, together with her older sister Venus, the most recent player to have held all four Grand Slam women’s doubles titles simultaneously (2009–10).
Williams has won a record of 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hard court. Williams holds the Open Era record for most titles won at the Australian Open (7) and shares the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open with Chris Evert (6). She also holds the records for the most women’s singles matches won at majors with 362 matches and most singles majors won since turning 30-years-old (10).
Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, all with her sister Venus, and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. As a team, she and Venus have the third most women’s doubles Grand Slam titles, behind the 18 titles of Natasha Zvereva (14 with Gigi Fernández) and the record 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Williams is also a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships in the singles division. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in women’s singles and three in women’s doubles—an all-time record shared with her sister, Venus. The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women’s professional tennis tour. She is ranked at No. 7 in the world by the WTA as of February 22, 2021.
Earning almost $29 million in prize money and endorsements, Williams was the highest paid female athlete in 2016. She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on Forbes‘ list of the 100 highest paid athletes with $27 million in prize money and endorsements. She has won the ‘Laureus Sportswoman of the Year’ award four times (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), and in December 2015, she was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 2019, she was ranked 63rd in Forbes‘ World’s Highest-Paid Athletes list.