Sports Illustrated For Kids debuted in January 1989, years before Serena Williams became a tennis sensation. One of the defining features of each issue of the magazine was the perforated sheet of nine cards featuring athletes from various sports. Ten years into its run, the checklist had grown to more than 800 cards. The July 1999 issue’s lineup consisted of Rickey Henderson, Randy Moss, Allen Iverson, Doug Swingley, Mo Vaughn, Jennifer Gillom, Peter Nowak, Vinny Castilla, and 17-year-old tennis phenom, Serena Williams. This SI for Kids card stands as the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s first and only rookie. No parallels. No Refractors. No inserts. No other manufacturers. Serena had no cards printed in 1998. This was her only card printed in 1999.
One of the best-known cards from the magazine’s three-decade-plus run, it’s notoriously hard to find thanks to its hand-pulled, perforated nature. This is one of nine of the 334 assessed by PSA to earn a PSA 10 holder.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 06/25/2025.
