Serena Williams: 23 random facts

Serena Williams’s victory at Australian Open 2017 gave her an Open Era-record 23rd Grand Slam singles title.

To honour that achievement, we present 23 random facts about the American champion …

1. For all the storylines surrounding Serena’s upbringing in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Compton, she was actually born in Saginaw, Michigan and moved to Florida when she was nine.

2. Serena is a Francophile; she owns an apartment in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, speaks French and is coached by Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou.

3. Serena’s career prize money earnings of $84.46 million eclipse Rafael Nadal’s career total ($80.12 million).

4. With 102 aces at Wimbledon 2012, Serena holds the women’s record for the highest number of aces served throughout a single Grand Slam tournament.

5. She last played with beads in her hair at the Miami Open in 2000, where she lost in the fourth round to Jennifer Capriati.

6. Her favourite author is Maya Angelou; Serena read Angelou’s “Still I Rise” poem as part of a BBC Sport video documenting her seventh Wimbledon title in 2016.

7. Serena has reached the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments in mixed doubles; in 1998 she won Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, reached the Australian Open 1999 final with Mirnyi, and finished runner-up at Roland Garros in 1998 with Luis Lobo. She also played mixed doubles with Lleyton Hewitt at Australian Open 1998.

8. Of the 17 former or current players to have been ranked No.1 that she’s played, Serena owns a winning record against all but two: Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario (3-4) and Steffi Graf (1-1).

9. In 2010 Serena became a certified nail technician and gave Oprah Winfrey a pedicure on television.

10. Serena withdraw from the 2000 edition of the Family Circle Cup – the last edition of the tournament at Hilton Head Island before it moved to Charleston in 2001 – because the Confederate flag flew above the South Carolina statehouse. “I was really looking forward to coming to the Family Circle Cup and playing there for the first time. I really appreciate the tournament’s support of my decision to withdraw. My decision not to play in South Carolina was based on a much deeper issue and one that I feel strongly about,” she said.

11. She has frequently cited Pete Sampras as an influence and admits she grew up wanting to serve like him.

12. In February 2013, Serena became the oldest woman, at 31 years, to be ranked world No.1. She re-set her own record when she returned to world No.1 on 30 January 2017 at 35 years, four months of age.

13. Serena last played in a Puma outfit en route to the 2003 Wimbledon title; she then stepped out in Nike when she returned to the tour from an eight-month injury absence at the Miami Open in 2004.

14. She has never lost a Grand Slam final after winning the first set.

15. Serena claims she could recall every single player that’s beaten her throughout her career. “Oh, yeah,” she said at the US Open in 2014. “Probably. If I sat down and thought about it, probably.”

16. With sister Venus, Serena is a perfect 14-0 in Grand Slam doubles finals.

17. At 207km/h (achieved at Australian Open 2013) she owns the third-fastest serve speed of all time among females, behind Venus and Sabine Lisicki.

18. Serena’s “Signature Statement” clothing line is featured on the Home Shopping Network. She also launched her “Aneres” clothing line in 2004 and has a hand in designing her Nike on-court outfits.

19. In 2016, Serena Williams became the world’s highest-paid female

20. Three times Serena has saved a match point at a Grand Slam event before going on to win the whole thing – Australian Open 2003 (saved match points against Clijsters in the SF), Australian Open 2005 (saved match points against Sharapova in the SF) and Wimbledon 2009 (saves a match point against Elena Dementieva in the SF).

21. She admitted on Snapchat in 2016 that she tried her dog Chip’s food at a Rome hotel; “I ate a spoonful. Don’t judge me,” she said, adding it tasted “a little bit like a house-cleaner thing. I don’t think it’s consumable for humans. They should have wrote that.”

22. On 7 June 2010, Serena became just the sixth player in history to simultaneously rank No.1 in singles and doubles.

23. As part of its Serena Williams collection, Nike released a women’s tennis shoe called the NikeCourt Flare 23, which Serena wore during the trophy presentation at Australian Open 2017.