Title: Serena Williams
Course: Inglés - 1º B.D. > Section: Famous lives

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Serena Williams biography and how to write it .

Synopsis

Wimbledon%D7%83%20Serena%20Williams%20career%20timeline%20-%20BBC%20Sport.mp4

Born in 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, Serena Williams began intensive tennis training at age 3. She won her first major championship in 1999 and completed the career Grand Slam in 2003. Along with her individual success, Williams teamed with sister Venus to win a series of doubles titles. In 2016, she won her 22nd grand slam title at Wimbledon, tying Steffi Graf for the most major championships in the Open era of professional tennis.

Early Life

American tennis player Serena Jameka Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan. The youngest of Richard and Oracene Williams's five daughters, Serena Williams, along with her sister Venus, would grow up to become one of the sport's great champions.
Serena's father—a former small farmer from Louisiana determined to see his two youngest girls succeed—used what he'd learnt from tennis books and videos to instruct Serena and Venus on how to play the game. At the age of 3, practicing on a court not far from the family's new Compton, California, home, Serena had two-hour a day practices with her father.

The fact that the family had relocated to Compton was no accident. With its high rate of gang activity, Richard Williams wanted to expose his daughters to the ugly possibilities of life "if they did not work hard and get an education." In this setting, on courts that were riddled with potholes and sometimes missing nets, Serena and Venus cut their teeth on the game of tennis and the requirements for persevering in a tough climate.

By 1991, Serena was 46-3 on the junior United States Tennis Association tour, and ranked first in the 10-and-under division. Sensing his girls needed better instruction to become successful professionals, he moved his family again—this time to Florida. There, Richard let go of some of his coaching responsibilities, but not the management of Serena's and Venus's career. Wary of his daughters burning out too quickly, he scaled back their junior tournament schedule.

Tennis player

Tennis Star

In 1995, Serena turned pro. Two years later, she was already No. 99 in the world rankings—up from No. 304 just 12 months before. A year later, she graduated high school, and almost immediately inked a $12 million shoe deal with Puma. In 1999, she beat out her sister in their race to the family's first Grand Slam win, when she captured the U.S. Open title.

With their signature style and play, Venus and Serena changed the look of their sport as well. Their sheer power and athletic ability overwhelmed opponents, and their sense of style and presence made them standout celebrities on the court.

In 2002, Serena won the French Open, the U.S. Open, and Wimbledon, defeating Venus in the finals of each tournament. She captured her first Australian Open in 2003, making her one of only six women in the Open era to complete a career Grand Slam.  In 2008, she won the U.S. Open and teamed with Venus to capture a second women's doubles Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games.

But Serena also had her losses. She underwent knee surgery in August 2003, and in September her half-sister Yetunde Price was murdered in Los Angeles, California. Three years later, Serena seemed burned out. Bitten by injuries, and just a general lack of motivation to stay fit or compete at the same level she once had, Serena saw her tennis ranking slump to 139.

Serena credited her faith as a Jehovah's Witness, as well as a life-changing journey she made to West Africa for renewing her pride and competitive fire. By 2009 Serena won both the 2009 Australian Open singles (for the fourth time) and Wimbledon 2009 singles (for the third time). She also won the doubles matches at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon that year.

At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Serena beat Maria Sharapova to take her first gold medal in women's singles. The next day, she claimed her fourth overall Olympic gold medal by teaming with sister Venus to defeat Czech Republic stars Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in women's doubles.

In June 2013, Williams took her second French Open title—as well as her 16th Grand Slam singles title over defending champion Sharapova. "I'm still a little bit upset about that loss last year," Williams said in an interview with ESPN following the match. "But it's all about, for me, how you recover. I think I've always said a champion isn't about how much they win, but it's about how they recover from their downs, whether it's an injury or whether it's a loss."

"When I was a little girl, in California, my father and my mother wanted me to play tennis," she told the crowd in French after her victory. "And now I'm here, with 20 Grand Slam titles."

Personal Life

Proving to have much more than just tennis, Serena expanded her brand into film, television, and fashion. She developed her own "Aneres" line of clothing, and in 2002 People magazine selected her as one of its 25 Most Intriguing People. Essence magazine later called her one of the country's 50 Most Inspiring African-Americans. She's also made television appearances, and lent her voice to shows such as The Simpsons.

Seeking to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged youth around the world, the tennis star formed the Serena Williams Foundation and built schools in Africa. In 2009, Serena and Venus purchased shares of the Miami Dolphins to become the first African-American women to own part of an NFL team.

The close-knit sisters lived together for more than a dozen years in a gated Palm Beach Gardens enclave in Florida, but they went their separate ways after Serena bought a mansion in nearby Jupiter in December 2013.

Some information taken from:

http://www.biography.com/people/serena-williams-9532901

How to write a biography

When we write a biography, we divide it into four paragraphs at least. We use the past simple when we write biographies about people who have died.

Possible Template

Paragraph 1    say who the person is and what he is famous for.

Paragraph 2    give information about his early life and childhood.

Paragraph 3    give information about his life as an adult.

Paragraph 4    write about his death or life at the moment (if he/she is still alive)

                      your feelings about the person.