Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1, Williams is generally credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour.

Williams has been ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks. She first reached the No. 1 ranking on February 25, 2002, the first African American woman to do so in the Open Era, and the second all time since Althea Gibson.