T'S hard to imagine tennis without her. She's been dominating the game for nearly a quarter of a century, notching up record after record to become not only the queen of the court but one of the world's greatest athletes.
Serena Williams has had a career that's outlasted most people's expectations - even those of her dad, Richard, who once said he expected her and her sister, Venus, to explore other endeavours once they reached their 20s.
Which Serena did, of course. She became a fashion designer, a mom, a wife and a venture capitalist - but the pull of the court never went away.
Yet everything has to come to an end and shortly before this year's US Open, the 40-year-old announced she'd be retiring from the game that's ruled her life.
THE MAKING OF A SUPERSTAR
Serena and Venus Williams (42) famously grew up in Compton, Los Angeles, and a few years after they started playing tennis their dad, Richard (80) and mom, Oracene Price (70), moved to Florida so the girls could attend one of the tennis academies there.
"My whole life up to now has been tennis, Serena said recently. "My dad says I first picked up a racket when I was three but I think it was even earlier. There's a picture of Venus pushing me in a stroller on a tennis court and I couldn't have been more than 18 months"
GLORY DAYS
As a kid, Serena stopped playing tennis for six years - at her father's insistence - so she could focus on schoolwork and enjoy life as a child.
Richard also wanted to shield his daughters from the racism they'd experience in the tennis world.
He wanted Serena to wait until she was 16 before she rejoined the circuit but soon after she turned 14 in 1995, she played in Quebec's Bell Challenge as a wildcard entry.
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