Sawt Falasteen - Serena Williams: Five Wimbledon moments

The 40-year-old has not played singles tennis since she suffered an injury during her first-round match at the All England Club 12 months ago.

The American has slumped to 1,204th in the world rankings but remains Wimbledon royalty, with seven singles titles under her belt.

AFP Sport looks at five of her most memorable moments at the All England Club.

First Grand Slam title

For all her success on the singles court, Williams won her first Grand Slam title alongside Max Mirnyi in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1998.

Williams and the Belarusian player beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Mirjana Lucic in straight sets in the final, going on to win the US Open later that year.

It was the first of 39 Grand Slam titles to date for the American in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Sister act

Serena Williams has won 14 women's Grand Slam doubles titles with her older sister Venus, but they have faced each other across the net in nine major finals.

Serena's first Wimbledon singles title came in 2002 when she beat Venus 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, in a much-anticipated clash.

Serena did not drop a set during the entire tournament and became world number one for the first time following her victory.

She beat Venus again in the final the following year but her older sister got her revenge in 2008, triumphing 7-5, 6-4 in the title match.

The following year Serena again came out on top in their sisterly rivalry, winning 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

Two-year drought

Serena Williams suffered a foot injury after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title in 2010 and it was to be two years before she added to her collection of major titles.

But she beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6–1, 5–7, 6–2 in the Wimbledon final in 2012.

That triumph led to a new period of dominance for the American, who won three of the following five Grand Slams.

Steffi Graf record

Williams won her seventh and most recent Wimbledon singles title in 2016, beating Angelique Kerber in the final.

It was payback for her defeat to the German in the Australian Open final earlier that year and took her level with Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slam titles in the Open era.

Williams overtook Graf by winning the 2017 Australian Open but remains one behind all-time leader Margaret Court, who won 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

Wimbledon pain

Williams, who missed Wimbledon in 2017 when pregnant, was a defeated finalist at the All England Club in 2018 and 2019 while the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.

Last year ended in bitter disappointment as she had to retire in the first set of her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to a leg injury.

Wimbledon is widely considered Williams's chance of equalling Court's all-time record as she chases the elusive number 24.

A.AbuSaada--SF-PST