1995: Serena Williams made her professional debut at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City in October, when she was 14 years old.
1997: At the end of the year, No.304 Williams defeated Mary Pierce and Monica Seles to reach the semifinals in Chicago, becoming the lowest-ranked player in the Open Era to knock off two Top 10 opponents in one tournament.
1998: Williams made her charge to the top of the game and finished the year in the Top 20 -- the fastest to that milestone in history. She also recorded five wins vs. Top 10 players.
1999: Williams won her first WTA singles title, defeating Amelie Mauresmo to win the Paris Indoors, then followed up by winning her first WTA 1000 event at Indian Wells, where she defeated Stefanie Graf in the final.
1999: At the year’s final major, Williams won her first Grand Slam singles title, at the US Open. She defeated Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis in consecutive matches.
1999: Williams won five titles overall and broke into the Top 5, finishing the season ranked No.4. She also paired with sister Venus to win her first Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, at both Roland Garros and the US Open.
2002: Now a consistent presence in the Top 10, Williams won Roland Garros, her second Grand Slam singles title, where she defeated sister Venus in the final.
2002: That event started the first “Serena Slam,” where Williams would win four Grand Slam singles titles in a row (beating Venus in the final each time). It was her first Wimbledon title, second at the US Open trophy and first in Australian.
2002: During that streak, her victory at Wimbledon also propelled Williams to the World No.1 singles ranking for the first time, on July 8. She finished the season as the year-end World No.1 for the first time.
2003: After winning the Australian Open in January, she became the fifth woman to hold all of the Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Stefanie Graf and Martina Navratilova.
2007: Serena defeated second seed Justine Henin 0–6, 7–5, 6–3, then the following year, Jelena Jankovic, also in three sets to win the Miami Open for the fifth time in this decade.
2003-07: Williams added a sixth Grand Slam singles title in '03 by defending her Wimbledon crown. Two years later, she would win a seventh, this one coming at the 2005 Australian Open and an eighth in Melbourne two years later.
2009: Williams finished the year-end No.1 for the second time in her career. In a three-year span starting in 2008, she would add five more Grand Slam singles titles to her resume, bringing her total to an even dozen.
2010: It started the year before, and in 2010, Serena and Venus dominated the doubles Grand Slams, at one point holding all four majors after their Roland Garros title. They co-ascended to the World No.1 -- the first time either player had been ranked No.1 in doubles. Serena finishes her career 14-0 in Grand Slam women’s doubles finals.
2012: Serena won the singles gold medal at the London Olympic Games, on Centre Court at Wimbledon. She also paired with Venus to win Olympics gold medals in women’s doubles in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
2012-2014: Serena won two additional Grand Slam singles titles in 2012 and two more in 2013, then won her third straight US Open title in 2014.
2013-2015: Once again holding all four majors simultaneously capped off a period of dominance. She finished as the year-end No.1 these three seasons and holding that position for 186 straight weeks. Williams tied Stefanie Graf for the longest uninterrupted run at the top.
2014: The US Open title kicked off a second “Serena Slam,” where she once again won four consecutive Grand Slam singles titles through 2015 Wimbledon -- her 21st major championship.
2016-2017: After another Wimbledon singles title in 2016, Williams won her 23rd and final Grand Slam singles title, at the 2017 Australian Open -- while she was pregnant with her daughter Olympia. Williams passed Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slams
2018: After giving birth to Olympia on Sept. 1, 2017, Williams returned to action the following year. She reached a total of four Grand Slam singles finals spanning 2018 and 2019.
