FACTBOX: Australian Open champion Serena Williams
(Reuters) - Factbox on American Serena Williams, who won her fourth Australian Open title with a 6-0 6-3 win over Russia's Dinara Safina on Saturday:
MAKING HER NAME
* Born in Saginaw, Michigan on September 26, 1981
* Turned professional in September 1995
TEN GRAND SLAM SINGLES TITLES
* U.S. Open 1999, 2002, 2008; French Open 2002; Wimbledon 2002, 2003; Australian Open 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
* Williams is seventh on the list of leading women grand slam title leaders
* Regained world number one ranking for the third time in her career after capturing the 2009 Australian Open title
* Is one of only five women -- after Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf -- to hold all four grand slam titles at once. Dubs the non-calendar year achievement in 2002-2003 as the 'Serena Slam'. She beats sister Venus in each of the four finals.
* Owns eight women's grand slam doubles titles with Venus -- the latest at 2009 Australian Open. Also owns two mixed doubles grand slam crowns.
OTHER CAREER MILESTONES
* Becomes lowest-ranked player in 1997 to defeat two Top 10 players in one tournament, beating number seven Mary Pierce and number four Monica Seles in Chicago after entering as a 304th-ranked wildcard.
* Wins 1999 Paris Indoors on same day that Venus triumphs at Oklahoma City. The Williamses become the first sisters in pro tennis history to win singles titles in the same week.
* Breaks into Top 10 for first time in April 1999, ranked ninth.
* Loses 2001 U.S. Open final to Venus. Flushing Meadows final is first meeting between sisters in a grand slam title match since Maud Watson beat Lilian at Wimbledon in 1884.
* Takes over from Venus as world number one in July 2002 after winning her first Wimbledon title.
* In 2007 becomes only the second unseeded woman to win the Australian Open crown in the professional era after Chris O'Neill achieved the feat in 1978. Ranked 81st the world, she defeats top seed Maria Sharapova in the final.
PERSONAL HEARTACHE AND CONTROVERSIES
* Has boycotted high-profile Indian Wells since winning the title in 2001. Serena had to overcome a hostile crowd to beat Belgium's Kim Clijsters in the final, being continually jeered by fans who were upset that Venus had withdrawn from her semi-final against her younger sister two days earlier. Ever since, the siblings have had to quell speculation that the move was hatched by their father and coach, Richard, to give the win to Serena.
* Suffers loss of her sister Yetunde Price, who was killed in a shooting incident in Los Angeles in 2003.
* Loses controversial quarter-final to Jennifer Capriati at the 2004 U.S. Open where she was upset by a series of line calls which TV replays showed were wrong. Incident sets wheels in motion for instant replay technology to be introduced.
(Compiled by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ossian Shine)
