When it comes to tennis legends Serena Williams is up there with the greatest of all time and has been there, won it and got the t-shirt when it comes to the professional game.
Williams was a dominant force on the WTA Tour during a career that spanned 27 years. The younger of the two Williams sisters won 23 Grand Slam titles, with only Margaret Court winning more with 24.
| Grand Slam | Years won |
| Australian Open | 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017 |
| French Open | 2002, 2013, 2015 |
| Wimbledon | 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 |
| US Open | 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 |
Williams burst onto the scene a year after her older sister, Venus and in truth, she blew her out of the water when it came to honours won on the singles circuit.
Serena was such a dominant force that it became a constant discussion of what her world ranking might be if she spent a year playing on the ATP Tour alongside the men.
Now, a Hall of Fame coach has shared a story from her days as a junior when she came up against former American star, Andy Roddick during one particular match.
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What happened when Andy Roddick played Serena Williams in junior match
Rick Macci is the Hall of Fame tennis coach who has made this claim and it’s quite an intriguing comment that shares where Serena was as a youngster.
Keen to get on the court alongside a boy, Williams faced off against Roddick but it’s fair to say that she’d met her match with the former US Open champion blowing her away.
Macci posted on X: “When Serena and Andy were kids they played against each other at age 11. To set the record straight Andy delivered a nice Dunkin Donut with extra sprinkles to the little Williams sister but Venus wanted the rematch immediately.”
He did follow that claim up, however, by sharing that Roddick was so often viewed as a dominant force on the junior circuit.
Macci continued: “Asked about Andy Roddick when he was 12 and ranking number one in the US. He was like a mosquito that no matter what bug spray you used the little guy just kept coming back for more. Relentless thirst for competition and just loved the battle made him hard to rattle.”
Andy Roddick and Serena Williams junior records
Roddick was a standout performer as a junior and won both the Australian Open and US Open junior singles titles.
He was the junior world number one in 2000 and actually won six titles in singles competitions and seven playing doubles.
Roddick enjoyed a breakthrough when he beat Spanish star Fernando Vicente at the Miami Open in 2000 and that set him on the path to US Open glory in 2003.
Serena was actually in the tennis academy that was headed up by Macci during her junior days and he gave her some additional coaching.
Remarkably, the powerful performer has a 46-3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked number one.
Serena turned professional very young and as a result, she never managed to win one of the junior Grand Slam titles, instead turning her hand to the main draws as a teenager.
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