Even though Australian Ajla Tomljanovic put an end to her supporters’ hopes of closing the curtain with a record-breaking championship at the US Open, powered by her life’s achievements, Serena Williams has long been drawn to her corner with a tableau to compare what her successors have done.
Serena Williams, who has as many dislikes as her fans, would have crowned her tennis career from a modest start on the public courts in Compton, California, if she won the US Open, but her failure to catch Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slams is the undisputed best of all time (GOAT) in her field. Doesn’t change the fact that it is.
It would be unfair to limit the career of the American racquet, which has many star names such as Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Kim Clijsters, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova, Ashleigh Barty, Petra Kvitova, Naomi Osaka, on the list of rivals since her first professional match at the age of 14, only with numbers.
It is not known whether Serena’s life will be the subject of a movie, like the biopic “King Richard”, which was about the father of the Serena-Venus Williams brothers and was released last year, but the ups and downs in her private life, health problems that she almost died from, and a sport dominated by whites. The fight against racism he is exposed to in his branch makes the championships he won even more meaningful.
MUSEUM FROM MUGS
Serena Williams, who has been fighting for the main table in 81 grand slam tournaments since the 1998 Australian Open, where she appeared for the first time, has fit into her career a total of 96 championships, 23 of which are grand slams.
Serena, who reached 7 happy endings at Wimbledon and Australian Open each, enjoyed the trophy 6 times at the US Open and 3 times at the French Open.
At the 2000 Sydney, 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, the US athlete won a total of 23 doubles championships, 16 of which were in the grand slam tournaments.
Serena, who managed to be number 1 in the classification of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which has been used since 1975, for 319 weeks, is in the third place after Steffi Graf (377) and Martina Navratilova (332).
Having achieved 365 victories in grand slam tournaments, the American athlete left the court with his neck bowed in 56 matches.
PRESSURE PRESSED PASSION
Serena Williams, whose passion for being a partner in Margaret Court’s record of “the most winning tennis player in history” of 24 grand slams, kept on the court until her 40s, could not overcome the pressure brought on by this.
Saying that she could have won more than 30 championships without the pressure to catch Australian Margaret Court, Serena lost all 4 grand slam finals she played after her 2017 Australian Open victory.
“If I’m in a grand slam final, then I think about that record. Maybe I thought too much and that didn’t help either.” Says Serena Williams, “After I became a mother, I had a chance. I played while breastfeeding. I played in postpartum depression. But I couldn’t get there. I had to. I have 23 championships. If I have to choose between building my tennis resume or creating my family, I choose the latter.” expresses she.
Serena Williams may not have shared the record she had dreamed of for years, but she dominated the courts in a much more competitive time period than Court, who won her last championship in 1973.
TIGER WOODS’ CONTRIBUTION IS GREAT IN ITS RETURN
Watching Serena Williams’ victory over Anett Kontaveit in the second round match of the US Open from the athlete’s box, golf legend Tiger Woods is one of the names that encouraged Williams to return to the courts.
Speaking to Woods about his career in April, Williams said of his close friend’s support, “I had a lot of questions and I was lost. Tiger was very determined that I would be a monster like him. ‘Serena, how about just give it two weeks? You don’t have to stick to anything. “Just go out on the field every day for two weeks and do your best and see what happens.” shared his words.
EXPOSED TO RACISM, BACK FROM DEATH
Serena Williams boycotted the tournament for 14 years due to her experiences at Indian Wells, which she says is still traumatized.
Serena Williams and her family, who made it to the final with Belgian Kim Clijsters, faced the booing and sarcasm of the audience in the 2001 tournament when her sister Venus Williams withdrew from the semi-finals. Serena Williams did not participate in this tournament until 2015.
The US athlete, who injured his foot by stepping on broken glass in a restaurant in July 2010, was away from the courts for almost a year.
WINS THE LAST CHAMPIONSHIP WITH Daughter OLYMPIA
Serena Williams, who learned she was six weeks pregnant before the 2017 Australian Open started, won the tournament without a set.
The American racquet, who gave birth to her daughter Olympia in September of the same year, returned to the tour five months later, although she was in serious danger due to complications during childbirth.
THE GAP IS NOT FILLED
Serena Williams, who narrowed the court to her opponents with her shuttles reaching 205 kilometers per hour, was the most important feature in her game.
When Williams’ tactical intelligence and athleticism combined with this strength, no female athlete has been able to fill his void since he won his last championship in 2017.
In the 2017-2022 grand slam tournaments, only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev became champions in men, while 14 champions in women became champions in the same period.
THE BEST
Oldest female champion: 35 years 4 months
Most Olympic gold medals: 4
Number of singles grand slam finals: 33
Time difference between first and last grand slam final: 20 years
Number of past weeks at the top of the world classification: 319
Number of consecutive weeks at the top of the world classification: 186
Number of Grand Slam titles: 23
Number of singles, doubles and mixed doubles grand slam titles: 39
Most championships in a single season: 11
Number of grand slams won after age 30: 10