--- description: Find out why Serena Williams is one of the 100 most influential people of 2025. title: Serena Williams: The 100 Most Influential People of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb445796a73bd67ee/6998c5c7e1ba007cce98d76e/time100-2025-serena-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 16, 2025 # Serena Williams ## Video: Serena Williams | TIME100 2025 [Watch (HLS stream): Serena Williams | TIME100 2025](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bMUNolY6.m3u8) (2:33)  _Published 2025-04-16. Serena Williams is on the 2025 TIME100 list._ by Allyson Felix  Serena Williams photographed in West Palm Beach, Florida on Mar 11 Serena Williams photographed in West Palm Beach, Florida on Mar 11Adrienne Raquel for TIME Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant, then returned to tennis after a difficult childbirth experience that threatened her life. Her perseverance inspired my own comeback story. After an [unexpectedly difficult pregnancy](https://time.com/6077124/allyson-felix-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined") that required an emergency C-section, and a lengthy recovery, I returned to the track to win two medals—a gold and a bronze—at the Tokyo Olympics. Even as she’s moved [away from professional tennis](https://time.com/6208915/serena-williams-retirement-interview/ "undefined"), Serena continues to be impactful. Whether it’s through her venture-capital fund that invests in companies founded by women and people of color, or joining the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, a WNBA expansion team, or [dancing during halftime at the Super Bowl](https://time.com/7214650/serena-williams-crip-walk-super-bowl-kendrick-lamar-halftime-show/ "undefined"), she continues to show that we, as athletes, are [so far from one-dimensional](https://time.com/7277099/serena-williams-interview-time100-2025/ "undefined"). She doesn’t have to do any of this. She could take a break from being in the public eye and raise her family. Instead, she continues to pave the way. So many female athletes see ourselves in Serena. A win for her is a win for all of us. _Felix is an entrepreneur and seven-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field_  Photograph by Adrienne Raquel for TIME [_Order your copy of the 2025 TIME100 issue here_](https://magazineshop.us/products/time-100-most-influential-people-2025/?utm%5Fsource=TIME&utm%5Fmedium=TIME-Marketing&utm%5Fcampaign=250410%5FTIME-Marketing&utm%5Fcontent=250410%5FTIME-Marketing-Landing-TIME-100-2025-Product-Page&handle=TIME10025&handle=70da3 "undefined") _Styled by Solange Franklin; set design by Ceci Garcia; hair by Angela Meadows; make-up by Natasha Gross; production by Petty Cash_ Serena Williams Is on the 2025 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/"},"headline":"Serena Williams","datePublished":"2025-04-16T10:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T02:29:04.494Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","T100Titans2025"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb445796a73bd67ee/6998c5c7e1ba007cce98d76e/time100-2025-serena-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb445796a73bd67ee/6998c5c7e1ba007cce98d76e/time100-2025-serena-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/","name":"Serena Williams"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Serena Williams | TIME100 2025","description":"Serena Williams is on the 2025 TIME100 list.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bMUNolY6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-04-16T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bMUNolY6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/","duration":"PT2M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```