Serena Williams is an athlete.
Serena Williams . In total , she has been world no. 1 for 319 weeks , which ranks her third in the Open Era among female tennis players . She is the only tennis player in history ( man or woman ) to have won singles titles at least six times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments , and the only player ever to have won two of the four Grand Slams seven times each ( seven Wimbledon titles and seven Australian Open titles ) . She is also the only tennis player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades . Serena has also won four Olympic gold medals , one in women 's singles and three in women 's doubles -- an all-time record shared with her sister , Venus . Williams was the highest paid female athlete in 2016 , earning $ 28.9 million in prize money and endorsements .