By: Saad Bin Muneer
Serena Williams made her retirement announcement at the start of August—or, as she likes to put it, her “evolution” But she made the decision to exit both on and off the court in style.
Following her wins over Danka Kovinić and Anett Kontaveit at the US Open, Serena has now extended two of her world records. She previously graced the cover of Vogue’s September 2022 issue, sharing her news
Serena’s legendary career began on the public courts of Compton, California. She turned pro at the age of 14, and for more than 25 years, she has ruled every other court in the world.
In addition to her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Serena holds 25 Guinness World Records titles in total. Triple Crowns Serena Williams defeated her older sister Venus Williams in the final to win her 23rd Grand Slam title and break Steffi Graf’s (Germany) record of 22 titles. This accomplishment also set a record for the most Grand Slam singles titles won in the open era. The longest span of Grand Slam singles titles by a tennis player (open era) was 17 years and 139 days, from this victory to her maiden Grand Slam trophy at the 1999 US Open. Serena still holds the record for the most weeks in a row as the world’s number one tennis player (female), which she attained after dominating the rankings for 186 straight weeks between 18 February 2013 and 5 September.
Serena also has the longest span of tennis Grand Slam singles finals reached, with 19 years 361 days separating her first appearance (and victory) at the 1999 US Open final and her last final at the 2019 US Open, where she lost to Canada’s Bianca Andreescu. Aged 19 years 83 days old at the time, Andreescu was 278 days younger than Serena’s span of Grand Slam finals.
In 2012, Serena achieved something no one ever had before – the first singles and doubles tennis career Golden Grand Slam. Winning the gold medal in the women’s singles at the 2012 Olympic Games meant that Serena became the first tennis player to win all four major tournaments plus the Olympics in both disciplines.
Another ‘first’ was achieved when she won the 2009 Australian Open, 2010 Wimbledon Championships, 2013 French Open and 2013 US Open. The male champion of each of these tournaments was Rafael Nadal, meaning the pair became the first players to win all four tennis Grand Slams together.