30 greatest female athletes of all time

28. Venus Williams
Tennis

The Williams Sisters changed tennis, and frankly, women’s sports, forever. They changed how the sports were covered. There were moments in women’s tennis (many of which will be covered here later) that deserved the national spotlight, but there were few players who were must-see TV like Venus and Serena Williams. And when they played each other? It was worth setting an alarm.

We’ll obviously get to Serena later, but let’s talk about Venus on her own. She has seven Grand Slam titles on her own, five Wimbledon titles, and two at the US Open. Unlike her sister, Venus plays an increasingly aggressive style that’s hard to prepare for. When she’s avoided errors, she usually wins. At this point in her career, she has close to a 75 percent winning percentage. 

Williams also thrived on the international stage, winning the gold medal in both singles and doubles at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. During the singles section, Venus Williams was dominant, winning most matches in straight sets. She did the same thing against Elena Dementieva in the Gold Medal Match. She would go on to win the gold in doubles with her sister in 2008 and 2012. 

In 2003, Venus Williams started to suffer injuries and an autoimmune disease that hurt her standing in tennis. She still won championships during her career, including at her most successful major Wimbledon. Her impact is unmistakable.