Five magical moments in the career of Serena Williams

Serena Williams' career has been so astonishing that it could fuel umpteen movies. Here are a few of the most magical moments.

1999 - FIRST GRAND SLAM TITLE

When Venus Williams burst on the scene in 1994, her father Richard was boldly predicting that his younger daughter Serena would be even better. At the U.S. Open in 1999 she showed why.

Venus was third seed and had reached the 1997 final at Flushing Meadows, while Serena was seeded seven.

It was 17-year-old Serena who stole the spotlight though as she claimed the first of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles with an extraordinary run. Her path to the final featured wins over a young Kim Clijsters and Grand Slam winners Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles and defending champion Lindsay Davenport.

She then faced top seed Martina Hingis in the final. Hingis, 18, was the favourite but Serena's firepower proved too much as Williams won 6-3 7-6(4) to become the first black American since Arthur Ashe in 1975 to win a singles major and the first black American woman since Althea Gibson in 1958.

As Williams celebrated with a look of disbelief on her face her father pulled out a tiny camera and recorded the moment for a family album that would soon be overflowing.

2003 - COMPLETING THE FIRST SERENA SLAM

After her 1999 U.S. Open triumph, Serena had to bow to older sibling for a while as Venus racked up two Wimbledon and two U.S. Open titles in 2000 and 2001 to lead their sibling rivalry.

But Serena caught fire in 2002. She beat Venus in the French Open final, the Wimbledon final and the U.S. Open final - then at the start of 2003 got the better of Venus again to win her maiden Australian Open crown to hold all four majors at once - the so-called 'Serena Slam'.

Her celebrations were muted