SERENA WILLIAMS - SERENA HOPES STREET TIME ROLE WILL IMPRESS

Tennis ace SERENA WILLIAMS is taking her upcoming appearance in American TV show STREET TIME very seriously, because she sees it as the beginning of a successful acting career.

The two-time Wimbledon champion will play a reformed gang member on parole in a 1 October (03) episode of the series - and she hopes her efforts will turn heads.

She says, "As a fan of Street Time, I told myself that if given the opportunity, I'd love to be on the show.

"I am taking this role very seriously, because I want to excel and because I have respect for the series."

Serena, who has also signed up to appear in independent flick THE PARKERS alongside VIVICA FOX, last flexed her acting muscles as a schoolteacher in American sitcom MY WIFE AND KIDS.