1999 Serena Williams tennis season

Full name	Serena Jameka Williams
Country	United States
Calendar prize money	$2,605,102
Singles
Season record	41-7 (85.42%)
Calendar titles	5
Year-end ranking	4
Ranking change from previous year	16
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	3R
French Open	3R
Wimbledon	A
US Open	'W
Doubles
Season record	29-4 (87.88%)
Calendar titles	3
Year-end ranking	10
Ranking change from previous year	26
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF
French Open	W
Wimbledon	A
US Open	W
Mixed doubles
Season record	5-1 (83.33%)
Calendar titles	0
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	F
French Open	A
Wimbledon	A
US Open	A
Last updated on: April 2, 2013.

The Serena Williams 1999 season was her breakthrough season, winning her first career title at the Open Gaz de France and winning her first slam at the US Open.

Year summary

Early hard court season

At the Australian Open, Williams lost in the third round to Sandrine Testud despite holding two match points.^[1] After two losses in tight three-setters in Australia, at the hands of Testud in Melbourne and Steffi Graf in Sydney, Williams won her first professional singles title when she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris, thus becoming the 13th unseeded player to win a Tier II or higher event since 1980.^[2][3] With Venus also winning the IGA Superthrift Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week.^[3][4]

In March of that year, at the Evert Cup in California, Williams won her first WTA 1000 event, defeating a 29-year-old Steffi Graf in the final,^[5][6] thus ending Graf's completed finals winning streak at 20, which dated back to 1995.^[3] Soon afterward at the Miami Masters, Williams had her 16-match winning streak ended by her sister in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history and the first all-sister women's final in 115 years, with the only other such final taking place at Wimbledon in 1884, when Maud Watson beat her older sister, Lilian, to become Wimbledon's first female champion.^[3][7] This was the best winning streak that includes a player's first title since Steffi Graf's 23-match streak in 1986.^[3] Williams then made her top-10 debut, at No. 9.^[3]

Clay court season

Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open^[8] and the German Open.^[9] At the French Open, Williams lost in the third round to Mary Joe Fernández,^[1] but in the doubles event, she and Venus did not drop a single set en route to the final, where they defeated the pair of Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova, who were the self-proclaimed "Spice Girls" of tennis, having dropped just a single set on their route to the Australian Open doubles title.^[10] It was the first major title for the Williams sisters and would be their first step towards completing the career Golden Slam in doubles.^[10]

Williams then missed Wimbledon because of injury. When she returned to the tour two months later, Williams made her Fed Cup debut. After a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay and with Monica Seles unavailable, the USTA and U.S. captain Billie Jean King turned to her other rookie, 17-year-old Serena, to try to close out the tie.^[11] Williams did just that, toppling Rita Grande, 6-1, 6-1, in 50 minutes, thus sending the U.S. back to the final for the first time since 1996.^[11] In doing so at 17 years and nine months old, she became the sixth youngest player in US Fed Cup history to win a match.^[11] The Williams sisters, who were traveling internationally without their parents for the first time in their careers, then teamed up to win the dead doubles rubber against Tathiana Garbin and Adriana Serra Zanetti, to cap a perfect debut.^[11] She then won her third title at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, beating Julie Halard-Decugis in the final. This moved her ranking back into the Top 10 at No. 9, tying her career high.^[3]

Late hard court season

At the US Open, Williams defeated Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles, and defending champion Lindsay Davenport in consecutive matches to reach the final,^[5][12] where she faced the world No. 1, the 18-year-old Martina Hingis, who had defeated her sister in the semifinals and also in the 1997 US Open final.^[13] She finished the job that her sister could not by beating Hingis 6–3, 7–6^(7–4) to capture her first US Open title at age 17 in only her second year as a pro; she won despite making 57 unforced errors, 33 more than Hingis.^[13] In doing so, she became the lowest seed to win the US Open in the Open era, the sixth American woman in the Open Era to win a Major, and only the second African-American woman, after Althea Gibson in 1958, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.^[3][13]

In the doubles event, the Williams sisters defeated Chanda Rubin and Sandrine Testud in the final, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 to win the women's doubles title. It was the second doubles major title for the Williams sisters, and their second step towards completing the career Golden Slam in doubles. Serena thus became the fifth woman in the Open Era to win both the singles and doubles event of a major,^[3] while she and Venus became the first sisters to win a US Open doubles championship in 101 years, since Juliette and Kathleen Atkinson accomplished it in 1897 and 1898.^[14] In total, the Williams girls earned $1.29 million for their two-week US Open travel, $915,000 of it reeled in by Serena.^[14]

To complete her 1999 season, Williams teamed up with Venus to win a doubles match in the Fed Cup final to help Team USA win the 1999 Fed Cup title against Russia at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium in Stanford, Calif.^[11] Williams ended the year ranked in a career-high world No. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.^[3]

All matches

Singles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Sydney International Sydney, Australia Tier II Hard, outdoor 11–17 January 1999	56	1R	Inés Gorrochategui	#208	Win	6–4, 6–2
	57	2R	Steffi Graf	#10	Loss	2–6, 6–3, 5–7
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 18–31 January 1999	58	1R	Raluca Sandu	#99	Win	6–2, 6–3
	59	2R	Magüi Serna	#22	Win	6–1, 6–3
	60	3R	Sandrine Testud	#15	Loss	2–6, 6–2, 7–9
Open Gaz de France Paris, France Tier II Hard, outdoor 22–28 February 1999	61	1R	Åsa Svensson	#94	Win	6–1, 6–2
	62	2R	Nathalie Tauziat	#9	Win	6–1, 6–4
	63	QF	Julie Halard-Decugis	#21	Win	6–2, 6–3
	64	SF	Nathalie Dechy	#43	Win	6–1, 6–4
	65	F	Amélie Mauresmo	#18	Win	6–2, 3–6, 7–6(7–4)
Evert Cup Indian Wells, USA Tier I Hard, outdoor 1–14 March 1999	66	1R	Jessica Steck	#230	Win	6–1, 7–5
	67	2R	Lindsay Davenport	#2	Win	6–4, 6–2
	68	3R	Cara Black	#36	Win	6–0, 7–5
	69	QF	Mary Pierce	#8	Win	7–5, 7–6(7–1)
	70	SF	Sandrine Testud	#14	Win	7–5, 6–0
	71	F	Steffi Graf	#7	Win	6–3, 3–6, 7–5
Lipton Championships Miami, USA Tier I Hard, outdoor 15–28 March 1999	-	1R	Bye
	72	2R	Alicia Molik	#107	Win	6–2, 6–3
	73	3R	Magüi Serna	#25	Win	6–3, 6–2
	74	4R	Monica Seles	#3	Win	6–2, 6–3
	75	QF	Amanda Coetzer	#9	Win	6–4, 6–0
	76	SF	Martina Hingis	#1	Win	6–4, 7–6(7–3)
	77	F	Venus Williams	#6	Loss	6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Italian Open Rome, Italy Tier I Clay, outdoor 3–9 May 1999	-	1R	Bye
	78	2R	Tatiana Panova	#71	Win	6–4, 6–1
	79	3R	Irina Spîrlea	#17	Win	6–2, 6–3
	80	QF	Martina Hingis	#1	Loss	2–6, 2–6
German Open Berlin, Germany Tier I Clay, outdoor 10–16 May 1999	-	1R	Bye
	81	2R	Jennifer Capriati	#115	Win	7–6(7–3), 6–3
	82	3R	Lisa Raymond	#38	Win	6–1, 7–6(7–1)
	83	QF	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	#7	Loss	3–6, 2–3 Ret
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 25 May – 7 June 1999	84	1R	Laurence Courtois	#99	Win	6–0, 6–4
	85	2R	Mariana Díaz Oliva	#94	Win	6–3, 6–4
	86	3R	Mary Joe Fernández	#37	Loss	3–6, 6–1, 0–6
Fed Cup WG: USA vs. Italy Ancona, Italy Team Event Clay July 19–25, 1999	87	–	Rita Grande	NR	Win	6–1, 6–1
Acura Classic Los Angeles, USA Tier II Hard 9–15 August 1999	88	1R	Elena Likhovtseva	#21	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
	89	2R	Patty Schnyder	#19	Win	6–3, 6–1
	90	QF	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	#8	Win	6–2, 6–3
	91	SF	Martina Hingis	#1	Win	6–3, 7–5
	92	F	Julie Halard-Decugis	#16	Win	6–1, 6–4
US Open New York City, USA Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 30 August – 12 September 1999	93	1R	Kimberly Po	#80	Win	6–1, 6–0
	94	2R	Jelena Kostanić	#128	Win	6–4, 6–2
	95	3R	Kim Clijsters	#98	Win	4–6, 6–2, 7–5
	96	4R	Conchita Martínez	#16	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–2
	97	QF	Monica Seles	#4	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
	98	SF	Lindsay Davenport	#2	Win	6–4, 1–6, 6–4
	99	F	Martina Hingis	#1	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Grand Slam Cup Munich, Germany Exhibition Carpet,indoor 27 September – 3 October 1999	100	QF	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	#15	Win	6–3, 6–1
	101	SF	Lindsay Davenport	#2	Win	6–3, 6–4
	102	F	Venus Williams	#15	Win	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Filderstadt, Germany Tier II Hard, outdoor 4–10 October 1999	-	1R	Bye
	103	2R	Sandrine Testud	#13	Loss	6–3, 4–6, 5–7

Doubles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Partner	Opponents	Rank	Result	Score
Sydney International Sydney, Australia Tier II Hard, outdoor 11–17 January 1999	28	1R	Venus Williams	Amanda Coetzer Natasha Zvereva	#25 #1	Win	7–5, 7–5
	29	QF	Venus Williams	Inés Gorrochategui Conchita Martínez	#99 #16	Win	6–4, 6–1
	30	SF	Venus Williams	Mary Joe Fernández Anke Huber	#78 #70	Loss	7–6(9–7), 5–7, 5–7
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 18–31 January 1999	31	1R	Venus Williams	Catherine Barclay-Reitz Kerry-Anne Guse	#44 #29	Win	6–4, 6–1
	32	2R	Venus Williams	Christina Singer Helena Vildová	#114 #86	Win	6–3, 6–1
	33	3R	Venus Williams	Mariaan de Swardt Elena Tatarkova	#16 #21	Win	7–6(7–3), 6–2
	34	QF	Venus Williams	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Larisa Neiland	#12 #10	Win	6–4, 4–6, 6–1
	35	SF	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	#4 #1	Loss	6–1, 4–6, 4–6
Faber Grand Prix Hanover, Germany Tier II Hard, indoorS 15–22 February 1999	36	1R	Venus Williams	Elena Wagner Anne-Gaëlle Sidot	#89 #59	Win	6–1, 6–1
	37	QF	Venus Williams	Manon Bollegraf Caroline Vis	#19 #14	Win	6–1, 6–4
	38	SF	Venus Williams	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	#11 #15	Win	6–2, 7–6(10–8)
	39	F	Venus Williams	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	#9 #8	Win	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
Evert Cup Indian Wells, USA Tier I Hard, outdoor 1–14 March 1999	40	1R	Venus Williams	Katrina Adams Debbie Graham	#33 #34	Win	6–0, 6–1
	41	2R	Venus Williams	Silvia Farina Elia Linda Wild	#22 #196	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–2
	42	QF	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	#4 #1	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
	43	SF	Venus Williams	Mary Joe Fernández Jana Novotná	#50 #3	Loss	3–6, 4–6
Lipton Championships Miami, USA Tier I Hard, outdoor 15–28 March 1999	–	1R	Bye
	44	2R	Venus Williams	Debbie Graham Rita Grande	#35 #102	Win	6–4, 7–5
	–	3R	Venus Williams	Silvia Farina Elia Karina Habšudová	#33 #37	Withdrew	N/A
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 24 May – 6 June 1999	45	1R	Venus Williams	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	#41 #78	Win	6–2, 6–3
	46	2R	Venus Williams	Amy Frazier Katie Schlukebir	#72 #56	Win	6–3, 6–2
	47	3R	Venus Williams	Vanessa Menga Elena Wagner	#112 #99	Win	6–1, 6–3
	48	QF	Venus Williams	Els Callens Rita Grande	#33 #88	Win	6–0, 7–5
	49	SF	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport Mary Pierce	#4 #53	Win	6–4, 6–1
	50	F	Venus Williams	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	#2 #5	Win	6–3, 6–7(2–7), 8–6
Fed Cup WG: USA vs. Italy Ancona, Italy Team Event Clay July 19–25, 1999	51	–	Venus Williams	Tathiana Garbin Adriana Serra Zanetti	#187 #207	Win	6–2, 6–2
TIG Tennis Classic San Diego, USA Tier II Hard 2–8 August 1999	52	1R	Venus Williams	Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik	#52 #33	Win	1–6, 6–2, 6–2
	53	QF	Venus Williams	Cara Black Cătălina Cristea	#28 #60	Win	6–2, 6–3
	54	SF	Venus Williams	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	#7 #12	Win	6–2, 6–0
	55	F	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu	#3 #17	Loss	4–6, 1–6
US Open New York City, USA Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 30 August – 12 September 1999	56	1R	Venus Williams	Miho Saeki Yuka Yoshida	#57 #56	Win	6–2, 6–3
	57	2R	Venus Williams	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	#38 #67	Win	6–7(6–8), 6–4, 6–4
	58	3R	Venus Williams	Linda Wild Nana Smith	#69 #72	Win	6–4, 6–1
	59	QF	Venus Williams	Mary Joe Fernández Monica Seles	#23 #24	Win	6–3, 6–3
	60	SF	Venus Williams	Mary Pierce Barbara Schett	#22 #32	Win	7–6(7–2), 6–3
	61	F	Venus Williams	Chanda Rubin Sandrine Testud	#51 #68	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Fed Cup WG: USA vs. Russia Stanford Team Event Clay September 13–19, 1999	62	–	Venus Williams	Elena Dementieva Elena Makarova	#NA #330	Win	6–2, 6–1

Mixed doubles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Partner	Opponents	Rank	Result	Score
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 18–30 January 1999	18	1R	Max Mirnyi	Rennae Stubbs Jim Grabb	#5 #18	Win	6–1, 7–6(7–2)
	19	2R	Max Mirnyi	Elena Likhovtseva Jeff Tarango	#9 #53	Win	6–4, 6–4
	20	QF	Max Mirnyi	Els Callens Chris Haggard	#45 #47	Win	6–3, 6–4
	21	SF	Max Mirnyi	Manon Bollegraf Pablo Albano	#18 #51	Win	6–4, 6–4
	22	F	Max Mirnyi	Mariaan de Swardt David Adams	#16 #34	Loss	6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)

Tournament schedule

Singles schedule

Williams' 1999 singles tournament schedule is as follows:

Date	Championship	Location	Category	Surface	Points	Outcome
11 January 1999– 17 January 1999	Sydney International	Sydney (AUS)	WTA Tier II	Hard	26	Second Round lost to Steffi Graf 2–6, 6–3, 5–7
18 January 1999– 31 January 1999	Australian Openl	Melbourne (AUS)	Grand Slam	Hard	44	Third Round lost to Sandrine Testud 2–6, 6–2, 7–9
22 February 1999– 28 February 1999	Open Gaz de France	Paris (FRA)	WTA Tier II	Hard	200	Winner defeated Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 3–6, 7–6(7–4)
1 March 1999– 14 March 1999	Evert Cup	Indian Wells (USA)	WTA Tier I	Hard	260	Winner defeated Steffi Graf 6–3, 3–6, 7–5
15 March 1999– 28 March 1999	Lipton Championships	Miami (USA)	WTA Tier I	Hard	182	Final lost to Venus Williams 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
3 May 1999– 9 May 1999	Italian Open	Rome (ITA)	WTA Tier I	Clay	65	Quarterfinals lost to Martina Hingis 2–6, 2–6
10 May 1999– 16 May 1999	German Open	Berlin (GER)	WTA Tier I	Clay	65	Quarterfinals lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 3–6, 2–3 Ret
24 May 1999– 6 June 1999	French Open	Paris (FRA)	Grand Slam	Clay	44	Third Round lost to Mary Joe Fernández 3–6, 6–1, 0–6
19 July 1999– 25 July 1999	Fed Cup World Group: Italy vs. United States	Ancona (ITA)	Fed Cup	Clay		United States def.  Italy, 4–1 United States Advanced to Fed Cup Final
9 August 1999– 15 August 1999	Acura Classic	Los Angeles (USA)	WTA Tier II	Hard	200	Winner defeated Julie Halard-Decugis 6–1, 6–4
30 August 1999– 12 September 1999	US Open	New York City (USA)	Grand Slam	Hard	520	Winner defeated Martina Hingis 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
27 September 1999– 3 October 1999	Grand Slam Cup	Munich (GER)	Exhibition	Carpet (i)		Winner defeated Venus Williams 6–1, 3–6, 6–3
4 October 1999– 10 October 1999	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix	Filderstadt (GER)	WTA Tier II	Hard	1	Second Round lost to Sandrine Testud 6–3, 4–6, 5–7
1999 Total year-end points					1607

Doubles schedule

Williams' 1999 doubles tournament schedule is as follows:

Date	Championship	Location	Category	Partner	Surface	Points	Outcome
11 January 1999– 17 January 1999	Sydney International	Sydney (AUS)	WTA Tier II	Venus Williams	Hard	90	Semifinals lost to Fernández/Huber 7–6(9–7), 5–7, 5–7
18 January 1999– 31 January 1999	Australian Openl	Melbourne (AUS)	Grand Slam	Venus Williams	Hard	234	Semifinals lost to Davenport/Zvereva 6–1, 4–6, 4–6
15 February 1999– 21 February 1999	Faber Grand Prix	Hanover (GER)	WTA Tier II	Venus Williams	Hard (i)	200	Winner defeated Fusai/Tauziat 5–7, 6–2, 6–2
1 March 1999– 14 March 1999	Evert Cup	Indian Wells (USA)	WTA Tier I	Venus Williams	Hard	117	Semifinals lost to Fernández/Novotná 3–6, 4–6
15 March 1999– 28 March 1999	Lipton Championships	Miami (USA)	WTA Tier I	Venus Williams	Hard	36	Third Round Withdrew against Elia/Habšudová
24 May 1999– 6 June 1999	French Open	Paris (FRA)	Grand Slam	Venus Williams	Clay	520	Winner defeated Hingis/Kournikova 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 8–6
19 July 1999– 25 July 1999	Fed Cup World Group: Italy vs. United States	Ancona (ITA)	Fed Cup	Venus Williams	Clay		United States def.  Italy, 4–1 United States Advanced to Fed Cup Final
2 August 1999– 8 August 1999	TIG Tennis Classic	San Diego (USA)	WTA Tier II	Venus Williams	Hard	140	Final lost to Davenport/Morariu 4–6, 1–6
30 August 1999– 12 September 1999	US Open	New York City (USA)	Grand Slam	Venus Williams	Hard	520	Winner defeated Rubin/Testud 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
19 July 1999– 25 July 1999	Fed Cup World Group: United States vs. Russia	Stanford (USA)	Fed Cup	Venus Williams	Clay		United States def.  Russia, 4–1 United States Wins Fed Cup Title
1999 Total year-end points						2117

Mixed doubles schedule

Williams' 1999 doubles tournament schedule is as follows:

Date	Championship	Location	Category	Partner	Surface	Outcome
18 January 1999- 30 January 1999	Australian Open	Melbourne (AUS)	Grand Slam	Max Mirnyi	Hard	Final lost to de Swardt/ Adams 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups

Finals

Singles: 6 (5–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	February 28, 1999	Paris, France (1)	Carpet	Amélie Mauresmo	6–2, 3–6, 7–6(7–4)
Winner	2.	March 14, 1999	Indian Wells, US (1)	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–3, 3–6, 7–5
Runner-up	1.	March 29, 1999	Miami, US (1)	Hard	Venus Williams	2–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	3.	August 15, 1999	Los Angeles, US (1)	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	6–1, 6–4
Winner	4.	September 12, 1999	US Open, New York City, US (1)	Hard	Martina Hingis	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Winner	5.	October 3, 1999	Grand Slam Cup, Germany (1)	Hard	Venus Williams	6–1, 3–6, 6–3

Doubles: 4 (3–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Winner	3.	February 15, 1999	Hanover, Germany (1)	Carpet	Venus Williams	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
Winner	4.	May 24, 1999	French Open, Paris, France (1)	Clay	Venus Williams	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	6–3, 6–7(2–7), 8–6
Runner-up	1.	August 8, 1999	San Diego, US (1)	Hard	Venus Williams	Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu	6–4, 6–1
Winner	5.	August 30, 1999	US Open, New York City, US (1)	Hard	Venus Williams	Chanda Rubin Sandrine Testud	4–6, 6–1, 6–4

Mixed doubles: (0-1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	2.	September 12, 1999	Australian Open	Hard	Max Mirnyi	David Adams Mariaan de Swardt	6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)

Earnings

Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.