Serena Williams

She could be the greatest female tennis player of all time. She is only two grand slams away from the all time record, currently held by both Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. What Steffi Graf, who is considered by most as the best player ever, couldn't accomplish, seems to be an easy task for Serena. Her chart, however, at first glance doesn't seem to promise greatness with all those 6th house planets, her temperament (a phlegmatic/melancholic tennis champion? Really?) the Moon in very poor condition and two planets in detriment or fall, one of them the ruler of the ascendant, no less. What is going on here?

Granted, she's had more than her fair share of injuries and she's had to stay away from the game for sometimes long periods of time, which explains the loaded 6th house. She also does seem to have a slow movement and tries to save energy by ending the point with a powerful stroke, instead of getting into a long set of rallies, which could partially explain the cold temperament. She's had problems with her weight, a common characteristic of a phlegmatic temperament. She's suffered from a bout of depression (melancholic temperament), but that was after the violent death of her half-sister, Yetunde, which is understandable. And finally, she does give the impression that she would rather compete only in slams, because all the other tournaments bore her enormously. Where, however, does she derive her heat and power from?

I think most of it comes from that very powerful square between Venus and Mars. Venus, the ruler of the ascendant and ruler of all those planets in Libra, is in detriment, yes, but she's also in that quite rare (for Venus) and very fortunate state of hayz. She's a nocturnal planet, in a nocturnal chart, nocturnally placed in a nocturnal sign. Because Venus is so close to the Sun, she's almost always diurnally placed, where the Sun is, that is. So it's not easy for her to be in hayz. Serena's Venus however, is, which strengthens this Venus a lot. What's more, Venus is in her own terms (the best place for a Venus in Scorpio to be) and there's a mutual reception between Venus and Mars (domicile/terms) which helps to make the square less of a problem. Mars, an extremely hot and dry planet by nature, is in Leo here, which makes him even hotter and drier. So this Venus receives, quite willingly, a lot of fixed fire. Hence the power. Mars is also the co-almuten of the 10th house (exaltation and face ruler) and by being placed in the 5th house, makes the connection between sports and profession.

Serena, at 32,  is currently the oldest female player ever to be No 1 in the ATP rankings. It would be interesting to watch her break many more records in the future, if she manages to stay injury-free.