Serena Williams

"All my life I've kind of dreamed of being the best, and doing the best... but it's really special to have come such a long way and it's really fulfilling...it doesn't happen every day" (Williams). Serena Williams has been ranked number one in the female tennis player field (Previously deducted to number two due to losing and injury). Thousands of little girls and boys look up to her every day. People want to be like her and play like her. What young tennis player doesn't want to be like her? Not many.

Williams at a younger age playing tennis (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/250723904230073142/ (Ken Levine))

Williams has been playing for most of her life. The tennis star was born in Saginaw, MI, and she started playing around age 4 1/2. Her father started to coach her and her older sister Venus at a young age so they could be extreme tennis players someday. Her father and mother even educated themselves how to play so they could teach their little girls. At age 9, Williams started beating her opponents. She won 46 out of the 94 games she played in a tournament. She became a pro tennis player 2 days before her 14th birthday.

We classify Serena as a hero since she inspires numerous kids to become wonderful tennis players and practice to become great. Serena has even made female tennis more popular. Women's tennis used to be just under men's tennis, and that's all that everyone watched. But now that Serena is here, women's tennis has been more popular ever since because a lot of people like Serena and her will to play. She was even the Sportsman of the Year in 2015. One article said "One of Serena's career highlights is being a tennis star and being one of the number one female tennis players in the world. She has won 21 grand slams in her career" (Georgia).

Serena and number one player Angelique Kerber (http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/01/serena-williams-cl (Nick Schwartz))

Nowadays, Serena lives in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. She still plays often, but she is suffering from a knee injury, so Williams may not be playing any day now. Her WTA ranking is number two since she lost to Angelique Kerber in 2016. We classify a hero as someone that inspires others every day and helps people follow their dreams. And we think that that definition meets our thinking of Serena perfectly.

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