1994 - Made pro debut at Oakland, d. world No. 58 Stafford and led No. 2 Sanchez-Vicario 62 3-1 before falling in 3s
1995 - Played Los Angeles, Canadian Open (Toronto) and reached Oakland QF (d. world No. 18 Frazier before falling to No. 2 seed Mag. Maleeva)
1996 - Contested five events, falling 1r at Indian Wells (after qualifying) and Amelia Island, then 3r at Los Angeles (l. to world No. 1 Graf 64 64), 1r at San Diego (after qualifying) and 1r at Oakland (l. to Schultz-McCarthy in 3s); second year to finish No. 204
1997 - Had breakthrough season, reaching first Grand Slam singles final and three Tier I QF; at US Open, saved two mp to d. No. 11 seed Spirlea in SF to become first woman since Shriver (1978) to reach US Open final on debut and first unseeded female US Open finalist since 1958; ranked No. 66, was lowest-ranked woman to make a Grand Slam final since No. 68 B. Jordan won 1979 Australian Open; final between 17-year-old V. Williams and 16-year-old Hingis was youngest Grand Slam final in Open Era (l. to Hingis 60 64); as qualifier ranked No. 211, reached Indian Wells QF, d. world No. 9 Majoli in 3s for first Top 10 win and led eventual-winner Davenport 4-1 third set before falling in a tie-break; made debut at Roland Garros (2r) and Wimbledon (1r); also reached QF at Zurich (as a qualifier) and Moscow; finished season at No. 22
1998 - Captured first pro singles title at Oklahoma City, d. No. 1 seed and world No. 2 Davenport en route; also won doubles title there w/S. Williams, becoming third pair of sisters to win a Tour doubles title; won Tier I Miami title as No. 11 seed, d. world No. 1 Hingis in SF and Kournikova in final in 3s to crack world’s Top 10 for first time on March 30 at No. 10; since computer rankings began in 1975, only six other players (Austin, Capriati, Jaeger, C. Martinez, Sabatini and Seles) have debuted in the Top 10 after being ranked outside Top 100 or unranked 12 months earlier; won Grand Slam Cup in Munich (d. Schnyder in final); in first event of season, runner-up in Sydney ranked No. 21, d. world No. 1 Hingis in 2r for first-ever win over a reigning No. 1 (l. to Sanchez-Vicario); also runner-up at Italian Open, Stanford and Zurich, where she recorded fastest serve ever in WTA Tour history with a 127 mph (205 km/h) ace on mp vs. Pierce in QF; won first two Grand Slam titles, claiming mixed doubles crowns w/Gimelstob at Australian Open as a wildcard team and at Roland Garros; later in the year, sister Serena won Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles titles (w/Mirnyi) to complete a Williams family mixed Grand Slam; suffered from patella tendonitis of left knee in April, which later forced her retirement in San Diego and withdrawal from season-ending Championships; earned $1,767,924, her first $1-million-plus season; first Top 10 season-finish at No. 5
1999 - Won six singles titles, earned more than $2 million in prize money and on April 5 she and sister Serena became first sisters to be ranked Top 10 simultaneously since April 22, 1991 (Man. and K. Maleeva); won Oklahoma City on February 28, the same day her sister, Serena, won Paris Indoors, becoming first sisters in professional tennis history to win singles titles in same week; defended Miami title, d. S. Williams in final, the first sisters to meet in a WTA Tour final; earned career first claycourt singles title at Hamburg (d. Pierce in final); won New Haven and reached SF at US Open (l. to world No. 1 Hingis after leading 3-2 third set, losing last four games) and won doubles title w/S. Williams; at Grand Slam Cup, avenged US Open loss to Hingis with a 62 67(6) 97 win in SF after trailing 4-1 and 5-4 in third set, serving 18 aces; in final, l. to S. Williams for first time; won Zurich, d. three Top 10 players including world No. 1 Hingis; semifinalist at season-ending Championships (l. to Hingis); in Fed Cup debut, helped USA win the title; finished season ranked No. 3; winning more than 60 matches in a season for first time
2000 - Missed first four months of season with tendonitis in both wrists; in just fourth tournament of 2000 due to injury, captured first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, becoming second African-American woman to win the title (Althea Gibson won in 1957-58); d. world No. 1 Hingis in QF, S. Williams in SF (first match at Wimbledon between sisters and eighth in any Open Era Grand Slam) and world No. 2, defending champion Davenport in the first all-American-born women’s final there since 1973; also won doubles title w/S. Williams; after winning three lead-up tournaments, captured second Grand Slam singles title at US Open; in SF, d. world No. 1 Hingis after being two points from losing, trailing 5-3 third set, avenging 1999 SF loss to her; d. world No. 2 Davenport in final; capped tremendous year, winning Olympic Gold Medal in singles and doubles, joining Helen Wills in 1924 as the only women to win both titles in Olympic medal competition; match win streak reached 35 and won six straight titles before falling to No. 1 seed Davenport in Linz final; missed season-ending Championships due to anemia
2001 - Third consecutive No. 3 finish; fell to No. 1 Hingis in SF of Australian Open; won doubles title to complete career Grand Slam w/S. Williams, one of five teams to accomplish the feat; won Miami (third straight title there having missed 2000 due to injury), saving eight mp vs. Capriati in final and moving up to a career-high world No. 2; won Hamburg (d. Shaughnessy in final) before being upset by Henin in German Open 3r and by Schett in Roland Garros 1r; at Wimbledon, captured third Grand Slam singles title, defending her 2000 title, becoming fourth woman in Open Era to win consecutive Wimbledon singles titles, joining King, Navratilova and Graf; defended titles in San Diego and New Haven, but fell in Stanford QF to Shaughnessy; won second consecutive US Open title, d. sister Serena in final, the first time sisters met in a Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 1884 when Maud Watson d. Lilian Watson 68 63 63; seventh woman in Open Era to defend a US Open title and sixth woman in professional tennis history to win back-to-back Wimbledon and US Open titles in consecutive years: Wills 1928/29, Connolly 1952/53, Gibson 1957/58, Navratilova 1983/84,86/87, Graf 1988/89,95/96; withdrew from Indian Wells SF due to right knee tendonitis, from Moscow and Filderstadt following the September 11 terrorists attacks and from Linz and season-ending Championships due to an irritated left wrist injured during practice at home
2002 - Opened with Gold Coast title without dropping a set, d. world No. 7 Henin in final for 15th consecutive Top 10 win; ranked No. 3 and seeded No. 2, her 24-match win streak and bid for a third consecutive Grand Slam title were upended in Australian Open QF, l. to world No. 10 and No. 8 seed Seles in 3s; won Paris Indoors, d. defending champion and world No. 8 Mauresmo in SF (who led 64 5-4 and was two points from victory); received walkover from Dokic in final (right thigh strain); a wildcard entry into Antwerp, won title over Mauresmo in SF and Henin in final (Henin saved 3 mp and recovered from 63 53 deficit to extend match to 3s before 12,000+ home crowd); reached SF in Dubai (third straight tournament week, the first time to play three events in three weeks since fall 1998), l. to Testud in 3s; on February 25, became 10th No. 1-ranked player in history of WTA rankings and first African-American (male or female), overtaking compatriot Capriati and becoming fourth different No. 1 in four months (after Hingis, Davenport and Capriati); seeded No. 2 at Miami (fell to world No. 2 for four weeks in March-April), stretched win-streak at event to 22 matches (since 1997 3r loss to Hingis), dropping sets to Dyrberg and Dementieva before falling to sister S. Williams for only second time in seven meetings (first since 1999 Grand Slam Cup final); recovered from 62 4-0 deficit in Amelia Island final vs. Henin to capture fourth title of the year, winning 26 75 76(5); on three occasions Henin was two points from victory; regained No. 1 ranking on April 22 after Capriati lost in Charleston SF; retained No. 1 ranking by defeating Hingis to reach Hamburg final as defending champion (l. to world No. 3 Clijsters in 3s in first loss in three visits at the event; withdrew from Italian Open before opening match vs. Kournikova with a right wrist injury, sustained when picking up a bag and aggravated during practice; lost No. 1 ranking to Capriati following tournament (after Capriati reached Italian Open SF); reached first Roland Garros final, d. former three-time champion Seles in QF and C. Fernandez in SF before falling to S. Williams in the first all-sister Roland Garros singles final; surpassed $10 million in career prize money afterwards and reclaimed No. 1 singles ranking from Capriati on June 10; with sister Serena ranked No. 2, they became the first siblings (male or female) ever to occupy the Top 2 spots in tennis world rankings; singles runner-up at Wimbledon as defending champion, extending win streak there to 20 matches before falling to S. Williams in first all-sister Wimbledon singles final since the first one in 1884 (when Maud Watson d. Lilian Watson); won doubles title w/S. Williams, their fifth Grand Slam doubles title; captured first singles title in three months at Stanford, avenging Hamburg final loss to Clijsters, the defending Stanford champion (in 2r, also avenged her 2001 Stanford QF loss to Shaughnessy); in San Diego, won second title in two weeks and third straight at the tournament, d. Davenport in SF (to even their career head-to-head at 10-10) and world No. 5 Dokic in final; three weeks later in New Haven, captured third straight title of summer and fourth straight at tournament, joining an elite list of players who won a tournament at least four straight years in Open Era (Austin, Evert, Goolagong, Graf, C. Martinez, Navratilova, Seles and Shriver); in the final, trailed Davenport 5-3 first set before winning 10 straight games; has a 16-0 record at New Haven, which was her seventh title of season (sixth Tier II), leading the Tour until sister Serena won Tokyo [Princess Cup] and Leipzig, her seventh and eighth titles of 2002; finalist for a third straight year at the US Open, falling to world No. 1 S. Williams to end a 20-match winning streak at the tournament and a 19-match win-streak during the year; would have regained No. 1 ranking with the title; extended to 3s by Rubin in 4r and Mauresmo in SF; withdrew from Bahia citing need for a recovery period; playing Moscow for first time in four years, l. 2r (1 bye) to eventual champion Mag. Maleeva 26 61 76(3); qualified for season-ending Championships for fifth year but first appearance since 1999; seeded No. 2, reached SF before retiring vs. Clijsters trailing 5-0 first set with lower leg strain