Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams was born on June 17, 1980 in Lynwood, California. She is an American professional tennis player. As of July 2007, she is the reigning Wimbledon ladies' singles champion.

She was formerly ranked as the World No. 1 tennis player. Venus has won the Olympic gold medal in women's tennis and 14 Grand Slam titles, including six singles (four at Wimbledon), six women's doubles, and two mixed doubles titles. Williams is the older sister of fellow former World No. 1 tennis player Serena Williams. The Williams sisters are noted for their power games: Venus holds the record for the fastest serve ever recorded by a female player in a main draw match (129 mph).

Early career

Already well-known at age 14, Venus Williams turned professional on October 31, 1994. In the second round of her first professional tournament in Oakland, Williams was up a set and a service break against top seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario before losing the match. That was the only tournament Williams played in 1994. She remained a part time player on the tour during the next two years, playing only three tournaments in 1995 and five tournaments in 1996.

Venus Williams began to play regularly on the tour in 1997. The highlight of her year was her debut at the U.S. Open, where she lost in the final to Martina Hingis 6-0, 6-4 after defeating Irina Spirlea in a semifinal famous for "the bump" in which Spirlea and Williams collided during a changeover. Richard Williams later claimed that this incident was racially motivated.

In 1998, Venus Williams teamed with Justin Gimelstob to win the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her sister Serena Williams won the other two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles of the year, completing a "Williams Family Mixed Doubles Grand Slam." In singles, Venus won the Grand Slam Cup and the tournaments in Miami and Oklahoma City. She also reached at least the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments. She ended the year ranked fifth in the world.

In 1999, Venus Williams won the tournament in Miami, defeating Jana Novotna, Steffi Graf, and her sister Serena in successive matches. Venus also won the tournaments in Hamburg, Rome, New Haven, and Zurich. Venus and Serena teamed to win the doubles titles at the French Open and the U.S. Open, becoming the first sister team to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the 20th century. Venus also went 2-1 in the United States 4-1 win in the final of the Fed Cup against Russia giving the U.S. its 16th title. 1-1 in singles 1-0 in doubles (with Serena)

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams Tennis Star Images

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 5 in singles and World No. 5 in doubles. Considered to be one of the greatest women's tennis players of all time, she has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to achieve the feat during the open era.

Williams is the reigning champion in women's doubles at the Australian Open and the French Open. Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all time list and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams: seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her with four other women for twelfth on the all-time list. Her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth on the all-time list. She 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 along with Justine Henin 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.

Venus has played her sister Serena in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches. They have met in eight Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they met in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.



statics
Country : United States United States
Residence : Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Date of birth : June 17, 1980 (1980-06-17)
Place of birth: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Height : 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight : 83 kg (182 lbs)
Turned pro: October 31, 1994
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Alexandra Stevenson

ALEXANDRA STEVENSON (born in La Jolla, California) is a professional tennis player. She made her professional debut in 1999 at Wimbledon, two weeks following graduation from La Jolla Country Day School. At the Wimbledon Championships, Stevenson became the first woman qualifier in the Tennis Open Era to reach the semi-finals. It was her second time at Wimbledon, having competed the year before in the Junior Wimbledon Championships. In 1999, Stevenson qualified to the quarterfinals at Birmingham, a grass warmup to Wimbledon, before withdrawing to Natalie Tauziat because of a stomach muscle pull. The next week Stevenson was the number one seed during qualifying at Roehampton - and didn't drop a set in three rounds as she moved into the main draw at Wimbledon. Stevenson beat number 8 seed Julie Halard in the third round. In the fourth round, she saved one match point against Lisa Raymond in a 2–6, 7–6, 6–1 win. She then beat Jelena Dokić in three sets in the quarter-finals, before finally being knocked out in her ninth match, in straight sets by the eventual champion, Lindsay Davenport. Stevenson had 57 aces during the fortnight, her serve speed in the 120s. But, it was the beginning of Stevenson being known for the fastest second serve in the women's game. Stevenson's second serve was 105mph - 115 mph. Stevenson joined Chris Evert and Anna Kournikova as the only women in recent times to reach the semi-finals on their Wimbledon debut. Phil Knight, the co-founder and chairman of NIKE, Inc. flew to London to personally sign Stevenson to a three-year NIKE contract.

During the months following her dramatic run at Wimbledon, Stevenson was named rookie of the year by Tennis Magazine and named Most Fascinating by People Magazine. She was interviewed by Barbara Walters for a Barbara Walters Special and was featured in a variety of national and international media. NIKE, Inc. flew a dozen flags with Stevenson's name in bold print during her first visit to the iconic campus. Stevenson moved from California to train with Nick Bolletierri at IMG Academies from 1999-2002. In 2000 and 2001 Stevenson, often pitted against top 20 players - including Tauziat, Mary Pierce, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Amanda Coetzer, Lisa Raymond, Dominique VanRoost, Julie Halard, Jennifer Capriati, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams - worked on her aggressive all-court playing style as she found her way in the professional game.

On September 11, 2001, Stevenson lost two friends - Manny Del Valle Jr., a fireman in the World Trade Center and her high school girl friend, Deora Bodley on Flight 93. Stevenson wrote an article in the New York Times about Del Valle, a driver to the players at the US Open. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/sports/perspective-a-player-will-always-remember. In 2002, the four Grand Slams allowed Stevenson to wear the patch of DelValle's Engine Company (Engine No. 5) on her NIKE hat. Stevenson reached the quarterfinals at Quebec City in 2001, and the quarterfinals at Linz, defeating Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario en route.





But, it was 2002 that lifted Stevenson to No. 18 in the world. Stevenson had played during the European indoor season in 2001 and was the only American player following 9/11 in Moscow. In 2002, prior to the European indoors, she lost to Monica Seles in the Tokyo quarterfinals 7-6 (9)7-6 (9)and there were no breaks of serve until the tiebreakers. Alan Mills, the Tokyo referee and renouned Wimbledon refereee said, "This is the finest women's serving match I have ever seen." Soon after, Seles and Stevenson would be asked to serve aces for the Heart Association, bringing awareness to heart disease. Stevenson had 100 aces in 2003. During the 2002 European indoors, Stevenson won her first doubles title with Serena Williams in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the quarterfinals of Filderstadt, defeating number one Jennifer Capriati. She was a finalist at Linz, beating four top ten players en route, including Capriati. Stevenson finished the year at 18, percentage points away from No. 17 Elena Dementieva and the WTA Tour Championships. She appeared as an alternate.





stats
Residence: San Diego, CA, USA
DOB: December 21, 1980
Birthplace: La Jolla, CA, USA
Height: 6' 1'' (1.85 m)
Weight: 156 lbs. (71 kg)
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Status: Pro (June 1999)

Maria Sharapova Biography

 Maria Sharapova Biography

Date of Birth: April 19, 1987

Birthplace: Nyagan, Russia (Siberian Region)

Residence: Bradenton, Florida, USAWTA

Ranking: 4

Nationality: Russian

Plays: Right-handed

Racquet: Prince

Endorsements: Speedminton, Motorola, Parlux Fragrances, Canon, TAG Heuer, Honda Japan & Colgate-Palmolive

Favorite Movie: Pearl Harbor

Favorite Food: Russian

Favorite Book: Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series Loves fashion, singing, jazz dancing and watching movies.

Maria Sharapova

Name : Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
Born : April 19, 1987
Country : born Nyagan, Russia
Lives : USA
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Russia on the 19th of April, 1987. Born to parents Yuri and Yelena Sharapova, Maria first starting playing tennis when she was just 4 years old.

When Maria Sharapova was just six years of age the famous tennis player Martina Navratilova noticed her talent and suggested to her parents that she move to the United States to receive professional tennis coaching.

After her first professional year in 2002 of playing tennis Sharapova was ranked 186th in the world. In 2003 her rankings improved greatly, with her highest ranking being 32nd in the world. In 2004 she continued to improve, being the second youngest ever to win the Grand Slam Wimbledon Championship and ended the year with $2,506,263 prize money earnings.

Maria Sharapova lives in Bradenton, Florida, United States of America.