It is never easy to say farewell to a tennis legend like Serena Williams so we will pay tribute by looking at some of her incredible records and stats.
The sporting icon confirmed on Tuesday that after nearly three decades at the top, she will be “evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me”.
Serena – along with her older sister Venus – has broken many racial barriers not only in the United States but around the world and has shattered countless of glass ceilings.
Serena Williams confirms will retire after US Open, but doesn’t want any ‘ceremonial, final on-court moment’
Having made her professional debut in October 1995 at the age of 14, Williams has racked up record after record after record…
So let’s look at some of those milestones.
$94,588,910 – The career-prize money Williams has earned over the course of her 17-year professional career so far. That does not include off-court deals like sponsorship agreements and her net worth is somewhere in the region of $260m.
$12,385,572 – Her 2013 season remains unmatched in terms of most prize money won during a single season on the WTA Tour with Ashleigh Barty’s $11,307,587 from 2019 second. Her big titles that year were at Roland Garros and the US Open.
1,009 – The number of top-level matches Serena Williams has played. The tennis great has won 856 (and counting) of those.
319 – She spent 319 weeks top of the WTA Rankings, which puts her third in the all-time list behind Steffi Graf (377) and Martina Navratilova (332). She first reached No 1 in July 2002 and her last stint at the top was in May 2017.
186 – The number of consecutive weeks she spent at No 1 between February 2013 and September 2016. She jointly holds the record for most-consecutive weeks spent top of the rankings alongside Graf.
102 – The American hit the most aces – men or women – during Wimbledon 2012. She also sent down a personal best 24 aces during her semi-final win over Victoria Azarenka.
73 – Williams has won the fifth most singles titles, well behind the 167 of Martina Navratilova. She won her first title at the Open GDF Suez in 1999 and her last title (to date) came at the 2020 Auckland Open in New Zealand.
35 – She is the oldest women’s Grand Slam singles winner as she was 35 years and four months when she lifted the 2017 Australian Open. She is also the oldest player to reach a final as she was 37 years and 11 months when she finished runner-up at the 2019 US Open.
34 – Williams’ longest streak on the WTA Tour started in March 2013 and ended with fourth-round defeat Wimbledon in July.
23 – The number of Grand Slams Serena Williams has won, the most by any player – man or woman – in the Open Era with only Margaret Court (who competed in both the amateur and Open Era) ahead of her on 24. Of those 23 majors, seven have come at the Australian Open, seven at Wimbledon, six at the US Open and three at the French Open.
17 years – Seventeen years and four months, to be exact, is the span between her first Grand Slam (the 1999 US Open) and her last Grand Slam (the 2017 Australian Open). It is the longest winning span between majors as Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf’s majors spanned over 12 years.
16 – Venus and Serena Williams have played each other 16 times at Grand Slams and nine of those have come in finals with Serena has won seven of the showpiece matches.
14 – Serena and Venus Williams have played 14 Grand Slam doubles finals and they have won all 14, completing two Career Grand Slams in the process.
10 – The number of Grand Slams she won after turning 30. Court and Navratilova are next best as they won three majors each after reaching that age.
4 – The number of gold medals she has won at the Olympics with three coming alongside sister Venus in the doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games, 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games while she also won gold in the singles in London.
3 – Williams has completed three Career Grand Slams and the closest she came to winning a Calendar Grand Slam was in 2002 when she won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open and in 2015 when she won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
2 – The number of mixed doubles Grand Slam titles Serena has won, both alongside Max Mirnyi from Belarus.
1 – There will always only be one Serena Williams.
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