Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in both women's singles and doubles by the Women's Tennis Association. Williams has won 49 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including seven majors (five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open), as well as a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2008 WTA Tour Championships. She has also won 22 doubles titles, including 14 majors and three Olympic gold medals.

Along with her younger sister, Serena, Venus Williams was coached by her parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Turning professional in 1994, she reached her first major final as a 17-year-old at the 1997 US Open. In both 2000 and 2001, Williams claimed the Wimbledon and US Open titles, as well as Olympic singles gold at the Sydney Olympics. She first reached the singles world No. 1 ranking on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African-American woman to do so in the Open era, and the second of all time after Althea Gibson. Williams reached four consecutive major finals between 2002 and 2003, but lost each time to Serena. She then suffered from injuries, winning just one major title between 2003 and 2006. Williams returned to form starting in 2007, when she won Wimbledon (a feat she repeated the following year). In 2010, she returned to the world No. 2 position in singles, but then suffered again from injuries. Starting in 2014, she gradually returned to form, culminating in two major final appearances in 2017 at the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships.