THE WORLD PORTAL

SERENA WILLIAMS

Serena Williams is ranked No.2 female tennis player in the world. She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams.Serena has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles. Now, The two-time wimbledon winner Serena was entered into the semifinals of the Wimbledon 2009, with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka. Serena was defeated qualifier Neuza in the first round and beated Jarmila Groth in the second round. She was defeated unseeded Roberta Vinci in the third round and she was reached into the Quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Daniela Hantuchova. Now, she will meet Elena Dementieva in the Semifinals of the Wimbledon 2009.

BIOGRAPHY

Serena Williams was born on September 26, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, U.S. Her father Richard Williams ran a private security firm and her mother Oracene was a nurse.Serena is a younger sister of former World No.1 professional female tennis player Venus Williams.Serena was started playing tennis at age 5 at public courts in Compton, California. By the age of nine, Serena and her sister Venus were attended into Rick Macci’s Academy of tennis.She and her sister Venus were introduced to the sports by their father. In 1995, they left the academy and began training under their father. Serena made her debut in professional tennis player in 1995 in the Bell Challenge, a tier III tennis tournament, in Quebec City. In 1997, Serena was ranked 304th and she was defeated Monica and Mary Pierce in the American Cup chicago and also was gained to the 99th rank by the end of the same year. She was finished ranked in the WTA top 20 for the first time in 1998. She had won her first professional tennis title in 1999, by defeatning Amelie Mauresmo in the finals of ‘Open Gaz de France’. In the same years she went on to won the ‘Pacific Life Open’,’ US Open’,and ‘the Grandslam Cup’ and that tournament was made No.4 position in WTA Rankings. She made a mark in the world of tennis by defeating Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf in 1999. She became only the second African American woman to win a major Grand Slam tournament when she won the U.S.Open that year. In 2000, she was partnered with her sister Vinus Williams to won an Olympic ‘Gold Medal’ at the Sydney Olympics and also won the Wimbledon Championship in 2000, the australian Open in 2001. In the next two years, Serena williams won all four major Grans Slams defeated her sister Vinus in the final of all the four tournaments. She had won the ‘French open’, ‘Wimbledon’, ‘US Open’ in 2002 and the ‘Australian Open’ in 2003.Then she was earned to the No. 1 position in the WTA rankings by won the eight singles title in that year. In 2004, She was not able to won the single Grand slam and also made the 2005 Australian Open her seventh Grand Slam singles title.The year of 2006, she was missed both the French Open and Wimbledon because of chronic knee injury. In 2007, she regained her form and made a strong comeback and she was defeated Maria Sharapova to won the ‘2007 Australian Open’. Although she didn’t won an any other major tournament that year and also made it to the 7th position in WTA rankings.Her win at the ‘2008 U.S. Open’ title ensured her the World No. 2 spot by the end of 2008. In the next year, Serena has defeated Dinara Safina to won the 2009 ‘Australian Open’ . With this win, her total Prize money summed up to US$23,980,811, the highest amount of career prize money won by any female sports personality around the world. But she was not able to retain the No.1 spot for long, and lost it to Dinara Safina. Now, Serena was entered into the semifinals of the Wimbledon 2009, with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka. In broadly speaking, Serena Williams is one of the brightest star in tennis world.

AWARDS

Serena williams has earned many awards in her tennis carrier. She was recieved many tennis awards which include ‘Tour Most Impressive Newcomer Award’, ‘Tennis Magazine/Rolex Rookie of the Year’ in 1998, ‘Tennis Magazine Player of the Year’ in 1999 and ‘Doubles Team of the Year award’ in 2000. ‘Tour Player of the Year’, ‘ITF Women’s Singles World Champion’ in 2002. ‘ESPY Female Athlete of the Year’, ‘Female Tennis Player of the Year’ in 2003. Serena Williams’ first major achievement was capturing the ‘US Open’ singles title in 1999. She partnered with her sister to gain doubles titles in the ‘US Open’ in 1999, ‘French Open’ in 1999, ‘Wimbledon’ in 2000, 2002, and ‘Australian Open’ in 2001, 2003. Further successes include singles titles at the ‘French Open’ in 2002, ‘Wimbledon’ in 2002, 2003, the ‘US Open’ in 2002, and the ‘Australian Open’ in 2003. Her awards also includes’ 34th NAACP Image Awards President’s Award’, ‘ESPY Award Best Female Athlete’,'ESPY Award Best Female Tennis Player’, ‘Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year’,Avon Foundation Celebrity Role Model Award, ‘BET’s Best Female Athlete of the Year’ in 2003. ‘WTA Comeback Player of the Year’, ‘ESPY Award Best Female Tennis Player’, ‘BET’s Best Female Athlete of the Year’ in 2004. ‘BET’s Best Female Athlete of the Year’ in 2005, ‘WTA Player of the Year’ in 2008 and also ‘BET’s Best Female Athlete of the Year’ in 2009.

(Will keep updating, so keep checking back……………..)

JEEV MILKHA SINGH

Jeev Milkha Singh is the most popular Golfer in India. He is currently the highest ranked Indian Golfer in the World. He has performed well in the professional circuit and India is proud with his numerous achievements and awards. Jeev Milkha had done a number of tournaments in US and also he was the first Indian Golfer to became a member of the European tour and the US tour. He is currently selected as Asia’s top Ranked golf player.

BIOGRAPHY

Jeev Milkha Singh was born on December 15, 1971 in Chandigarh, India. He is from one of the most famous sporting families in India. His father named Milkha Singh was a famous Indian Olympic athlete and mother Nirmal Kaur, former captain of Indian women’s volleyball team.He won his first amateur tournament, the American Express Championship in Delhi at the age of only 13. When he was only 17 years old, he represented India in the Eisenhower Trophy in the year of 1988. He again represented his country in the same tournament in 1992. After passing the school level, he got admitted degree in business and international studies in Abilene Christian University in 1996. Jeev had won the NCAA Division II individual golf championship in 1993.He had also won a number of amateur Golf tournaments in the U.S during his study period. In the same year, he had made his first professional win at the Southern Oklahoma State Open. That was a minor local event. He had won the ‘Shinhan Donghae Open’ in 1994, though it was not an Asian Tour event. In 1995, he had won both the ‘Philippine Classic’ and ‘Asian Match Play Championship’. He had gained the title of ‘Philip Morris Asia Cup’ in 1996. In 1997, he had finished seventh at the European tour qualifying school. In 1999, Jeev Mikha had gained the 50th rank on the order of merit in Europe and he became champion in the ‘Lexus International’ in the same year. Jeev Milkha had struggled with injury in the early years of the new century but in April 2006 he had won the ‘Volvo China Cup’ and in the same year he had also won the Asian tour. He has only became better known to Americans since his successes in 2005. In 2007, he was achieved another history in his life, because he became the first Indian golfer to participate in the ‘Masters Tournament’. He was represented Indian Golf in ‘Alfred Dunhill Cup’ and also represented Asia in 2007 ‘Royal Trophy’. In the same year, he was honored with the prestigious ‘Padma Shri Award’. In 2008,he has achieved the highest ranking for an Indian in any major event at the ‘2008 PGA Championship’ in Oakland Hills. He was finished at T9 and also made him India’s best golfer ever. In the European Tour Season, he has ranked 12th on the order of merit and after winning the ‘Barclays Singapore Open’ won his second order of merit title on the Asian tour. He has also won the Asian Tour Players ‘Player of the Year Award’ in 2008. In 2009, he has finished the ‘WGC-VA Championship’ in fourth place after leading round one.