The Serena Williams era began on the grass of Wimbledon. On 8 July 2002, she beat her sister Venus in the final to win her first Wimbledon title and claim the WTA world No.1 ranking for the first time.
A final decided by one tiebreak
Venus arrived as the two-time defending champion. The match turned on a tight opening set. Serena took it 7–6(7–4), then closed with a clean 6–3 second set.
She did not drop a set all tournament. The win was her third major title and the second leg of what became the first "Serena Slam."
From No.1 to a season of command
Taking the top spot meant dethroning Venus, the player who had ruled the All England Club for two summers. Serena finished the year as world No.1, winning eight tournaments including the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
That November the sisters stood first and second on the year-end list — the only sibling top-two finish in WTA history.
She beat then-world No.1 Jennifer Capriati in Paris, then beat Venus at Wimbledon and again at the US Open final that September. The season reshaped the rankings and passed the family rivalry from elder to younger sister.
The contemporary record holds no quote from either Williams about the moment. The scoreline alone tells the story: a clean fortnight, a new name at the top of the sport, and the start of a reign that would stretch across two decades.
