A modern tennis icon: The milestones that put Serena Williams in the debate to be the best of all time

There’s no way Serena Williams’ retirement won’t become a mark in white sports history. A little over a month after turning 41, the American will hang up her racquet and transform her career into an indelible legend in the discipline. A look back at the moments that framed his life. Full of gold and consecrations.

The Williams family name went from strength to strength in California in the early 1990s. Propelled by a tennis-obsessed father, Serena and Venus broke onto the state scene at an early age, consistently winning every tennis tournament. the West Coast. Such was his outburst, that the youngest of the sisters made her professional debut at the age of 14 . At 17, she already had victories against world numbers 5 and 2. At 18, she was a champion at the United States Open, her first major.

Milestones that only implied one thing: Serena would become a legend. And the American did not disappoint. After 27 years of devoting herself to tennis professionally, she managed to put her name at the top, not only in women’s tennis, but in general. At the level of Grand Slam consecrations, he takes advantage of all the men, remaining so far (despite the fact that it seems impossible, he still has the chance to conquer the US Open) with 23 career major singles titles.

Only one person in the story has more than her, though unlike half of them before the Open Era. It is Margaret Court who, throughout her career, conquered 24 great including seven Australian Open in a row.

This is why for many, Serena’s 23 is more valuable than Australia’s 24. And it is that before 1968 (when the Open Era was created) the participation in these events was very limited and exclusive, allowing to have less competition over the years.

Plus, another milestone that gives the American more weight is that her accomplishments have gone beyond the simple. Together with his sister Venus, they formed one of the most dominant duos in the world, winning 14 Grand Slam tournaments. These accomplishments, plus a Wimbledon and a US Open in mixed doubles, give him a total of 39 major titles . If all the categories are added up, for both men and women, Serena is second only to Martina Navratilova, who in all categories has achieved a total of 59 major tournaments.

Even herself has joined the debate about being the best player of all time. He did so in the same interview where he announced his retirement. “There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I haven’t surpassed Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles. I would be lying if I said no. I don’t want this record, I don’t think of her. Now, if I’m in a Grand Slam final, then yeah, I’m thinking about that record. Maybe I thought about it too much, and it didn’t help. I should have had more than 30 Grand Slam tournaments, I had my chances after I returned from giving birth. I went from a C-section to a second pulmonary embolism to a Grand Slam final. I played while breastfeeding. I performed during postpartum depression. But I didn’t. I did not present myself as I should or could have. But I showed up 23 times, and that’s fine. It is indeed extraordinary. “, commented for Vogue.

A statement that hurts him, but which is pure reality. This, since the last four Grand Slam finals he participated in, he ended up losing them . Those were times when the word “damn” was in all the headlines. But the truth is that after 2017, Serena’s life was different. After giving birth and suffering many physical repercussions, she was never able to return to that superlative level that saw her raise $13,000 in eight years. And of course, if what he had achieved during this period between 2008 and 2016 was out of the ordinary.

Their the last big arrived in Australia, in 2017 when she was already two months pregnant. It was the last time the North American star managed to conquer one of the four most important events in the world. He is yet to compete in the US Open in 2022, but a victory at the Artur Ashe, at this stage in his life, seems unlikely. But beware, if Saginaw has shown anything, it’s that she doesn’t believe in the impossible.

Despite the Grand Slam tournaments drawing attention to what the youngest Williams has achieved, her 21st century supremacy extends to every stage and every tournament. For example is the fourth person who has been world number one for the most weeks , with 319. Only Navratilova (332), Djokovic (373) and Steffi Graf (377) exceed her. This allowed him to finish five years (2002, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015) at the top of the rankings.

In terms of victories at the professional level, he is not far off either. She is the 14th person (and fourth woman) with the most wins, with 852 so far, as she still has Cincinnati and the US Open to play for.

But one of his biggest milestones was outside of the WTA. And it is that Serena Williams is also synonymous with Olympic gold. Representing the flag of the United States, won four gold medals being London 2012 its peak moment.

She arrived in the English capital knowing what it was like to win doubles gold twice (2000 and 2008 with Venus), but with the pain of being knocked out in the first round of singles in Beijing . Of course, the scene was totally different. The All England Club is a special place for her and on the British pitch she did not disappoint.

He managed to dominate in singles and doubles and won four gold medals throughout his career. A figure that apart from his sister, no one has reached.

Achievements, stats and feats that frame a legendary career. He still has two tournaments to play, but time is already running out. New York will be the last stop, the last stop to say goodbye to a unique player, an icon of the time. The sport of the 21st century is partly her. Whether it’s the biggest or not doesn’t matter at this point.