5 Things You May Not Know About Serena Williams: Olympian, NFL Team Owner, Record Vs. Venus And More

This article was originally published on Aug. 12, 2022.

Serena Williams, arguably the greatest female tennis player of all time, has dominated the sport over the last several decades.

In August, she announced her retirement from the sport to focus on building a family.

The Nike Inc. NKE sponsored tennis legend ends with an 855-153 career record in singles tennis and a 192-34 record in doubles, winning around 85% of her career matches. Williams will end her career with 73 singles titles; 23 doubles titles; 23 Grand Slam titles for singles; and 14 Grand Slam titles for doubles.

Here are five things you might not know about Serena Williams both on and off the court.

Portrayed in Biopic: In 2021, the biopic movie “Being Richard” was released from Warner Bros. Discovery WBD. The movie told the story of Serena, sister Venus Williams and their family. The movie featured Will Smith playing their father and coach Richard Williams. The Williams served as executive producers of the movie and helped get the story right.

“People have gotten the story wrong, or media have portrayed my dad in an untruthful light. We want to get this story right,” Williams said of making the movie. “I think it was a great opportunity to see how amazing African-American fathers are.”

The movie grossed $15.1 million domestically and $39.4 million worldwide and was later released on the streaming platform HBO Max.

“Being Richard” was critically acclaimed and was nominated for six Academy Awards and four Golden Globes. The movie won Smith a Best Actor Oscar.

Olympic Champion: Along with dominating the tennis world for grand slams and tournaments, Williams has also turned in an impressive Olympic Games record. Williams has won four gold medals between singles and doubles competitions competing in the 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Williams won gold in doubles in 2000, 2008 and 2012. Williams also won gold in singles in 2012. With sister Venus as her partner, the Williams sisters dominated the Olympic for years going 15-0 before the 2016 Olympics. Williams finished tied for 9th in singles tennis in 2016 and tied for 17th in doubles.

Competing Against Her Sister: Along with playing with Venus as her partner in doubles tennis, Williams has faced her sister head-to-head on many occasions. Serena holds a 19-12 record in head-to-head matches against sister Venus.

The first head-to-head meeting was at the 1998 Australian Open, which was won by Venus.

Serena dominated in later years and also holds the better record for Grand Slams along with the overall record. Serena holds an 11-5 record against Venus in Grand Slams and a 7-2 record in Grand Slam Finals. Serena is 9-3 against sister Venus in finals of all tennis tournaments.

While the sisters played their career together in doubles tennis, ESPN shows the sisters faced each other in the mixed doubles portion of the 1998 French Open. Venus and partner Justin Gimelstob beat Serena and partner Luis Lobo.

Related Link: Serena Williams Owns A CryptoPunk And Her Husband Alexis Ohanian Wore It To The Met Gala

Women’s Trading Card Record: Serena has set several records for the most expensive trading card for women’s tennis players and women athletes on several occasions. The most recent example was in 2022 when the 2003 Serena Williams NetPro signed patch rookie card sold for $266,400.

The 2003 NetPro set was the first set to feature Williams and several other tennis legends like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and sister Venus Williams.

Serena’s husband Alexis Ohanian, an investor and the co-founder of Reddit, has admitted to being one of the largest collectors of Serena’s cards. Ohanian tweeted that he did not buy the record-breaking rookie card from Williams.

The previous record was also a Serena card with the 1999 SI For Kids rookie card selling for $117,000 in January 2022.

A ranking of the top-selling women’s sports cards of all time from 137pm shows Serena holding the top six places and nine of the top ten overall.

New record set for highest priced trading card of a female athlete last night @GoldinCo . This @serenawilliams 2003 NETPRO signed patch rookie card sold for $266,400 setting the new record. pic.twitter.com/0jGn4BpEXO

— Ken Goldin (@KenGoldin) May 22, 2022

Professional Sports Team Owner: Williams, along with sister Venus, is one of several minority owners of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins.

Stephen Ross is the majority owner of the Dolphins with the Williams, Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony and Fergie among the minority owners of the team.

The Dolphins had a valuation of $1.02 billion by Forbes in 2009. In the latest 2021 NFL team valuations, the team was worth $3.42 billion, turning in a nice return for Serena and the other owners.

Serena is also an investor in National Women’s Soccer League team Los Angeles Angel City. Williams is one of several celebrity and athlete owners with the list including Natalie Portman, Mia Hamm, Billie Jean King, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria, Christina Aguilera, Candace Parker, Lindsey Vonn and more. Serena’s daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. is also a part owner of the team.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons