Serena: SI.com's Female Athlete of the Decade

The selection for female athletes of the decade was a team effort. A group of writers and editors at SI.com were asked to consider on-the-field achievements and come up with the best of the best. Out of the Top 20, three tennis players made the list: (1) Serena Williams, (4) Justine Henin and (6) Venus Williams. The following summary was written by Andrew Lawrence (SI.com).

#1 Female Athlete of the Decade - SERENA WILLIAMS

Some might argue that Williams, 28, is the best story in sports (notwithstanding her temper tantrum at the 2009 U.S. Open). Consider her accomplishments this decade: She won nine of her 10 Grand Slam singles titles and two Olympic gold medals in doubles (with her sister Venus), and she recently reclaimed the No. 1 ranking. She boasts the most powerful game in modern tennis, and she is best when the stakes are highest. Throw in the nearly $29 million in prize money -- most of it earned in the aughts -- and it's an improbable haul for a woman who was schooled in the game along with Venus by their father, the self-taught Richard, on pockmarked public courts in Compton, Calif.