Serena Williams is one of those few athletes that can be described as exceptional and every other synonym of the word; a generational talent from Saginaw, Michigan, who grew up in Compton, Los Angeles, California; she walks away from the exciting game of tennis as one of the Greatest of all time.
She started playing tennis professionally at the tender age of 14 and made her US Open debut three years later where she won her first Grand Slam title in 1999 by defeating Martina Hingis, a teenager like herself. Serena has accomplished basically everything in her playing days as she has 92 wins at the Australian Open, 69 wins at Roland Gross, 98 wins at Wimbledon and 108 wins at US Open.
READ MORE: Super Eagles’ Leadership: Sports Editors Stamp Support for Eguavoen
Serena Williams’ unique ability to stay on top the game for the past two decades %has to be one of the most impressive things about her. Serena gave a heartwarming and emotional goodbye speech at the ongoing US Open where she lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanivic.
She had also earlier announced in an op-ed for Vogue Magazine’s latest issue that after the tournament, she would be “evolving away from tennis” and focusing on a new career path; focusing more on her family and “Serena Ventures”, a venture capital firm.
The list of Serena’s achievements and accolades is as mentioned earlier, Exceptional. Serena Williams has won 73 singles titles in total. She has 23 Grand Slam singles titles and is also a 14-time doubles champion, 13 of which she won with her sister Venus. The only other one without Venus, was in Leipzig in 2002, where she teamed up with Alexandra Stevenson. Williams has also won 2 Grand Slams in mixed doubles.
She has won the Australian Open 7 times, Wimbledon 7 times, the US Open 6 times, and the French Open 3 times. She’s also a 4-time Olympic gold medalist. It’s no surprise that an award-winning movie was made to adequately tell her story to the rest of the world.
Serena was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks. She also finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.
Serena Williams’ exit from the game will undoubtedly be missed by her adoring fans worldwide and the world of sports in general.