Serena Williams - the greatest female athlete of all time

Williams with the Winners’ Trophy at the 2015 French Open

In every sport, there are greats who dominate the sport for a period of 4-5 years. A period when they are the undisputed number 1s in their sport. But it is extremely unlikely that at the age of 33, more than a decade after you first crushed every opposition, you dominate the sport once again. This is exactly what Serena has been doing for the past year. And it is why she is not only the best ever female tennis player, but arguably the greatest female athlete of all time.

She won her first slam at Flushing Meadows as a 17 year old in 1999, defeating Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis in succession, leaving the world shocked, surprised and thrilled in equal measure. Women’s tennis finally had an African-American champion after a 40 year gap.

16 years and 20 grand slam titles later, she is still defeating the current best in women’s tennis, while her opponents of 1999 have long since disappeared into anonymity.

A 17-year-old Serena poses with the winners’ trophy at the 1999 U.S Open, her first Grand Slam

The first phase of her dominance came in 2002-03, when she held all the four slams. And the playing field included champions like Henin, Clijsters, Capriati, Hingis, Mauresmo and Serena’s own sister, Venus. But she steamrolled all her opponents with ridiculous ease. Serena’s Slam was complete.

In the next 4-5 years, Serena was not at her best. She was flirting with a full time career in fashion. By the beginning of 2007, her ranking had come down to 81. But despite being unseeded, she thrashed Sharapova in one of the most one sided finals in tennis history to win the Australian Open.

Though she kept winning the odd slam in the next few years, her next true period of dominance began in 2012. From 2012, she has been dominating women’s tennis in the same way as she had done a decade earlier. This after surviving near death and being older than all her competitors, playing against a set of players from a different generation altogether.

Just a look at her stats will leave you stunned. Serena has won 20 singles titles in Grand Slams, 13 women’s doubles titles and 2 mixed doubles titles in addition to 1 Olympic singles gold and 3 Olympics doubles gold.

As the saying goes, the true greats raise their game in the big matches and against the best opponents.

Serena has won 20 of the 24 finals she has contested in grand slams. She has a 17-2, 10-1 and 8-1 head to head record against Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic, the other 3 women to have been ranked number 1 in the last 7 years. And she has nerves of steel. 3 of her 20 victories in the finals came while facing a match point. When Serena plays, it does not take long for the impossible to become inevitable. Not even the great Roger Federer can boast of such a record.

Williams with Roger Federer, who has not surpassed her record

She has never been given the accolades she deserves. The one thing going against her is she is playing at a time that is also dubbed the golden era of men’s tennis. So every time she wins, there is also a Nadal, Federer or Djokovic win which overshadows it. Serena’s wins thus never get the coverage they deserve.

Even at Roland Garros this year, Wawrinka’s superb show stole all the limelight. Not that any of it matters to Serena. Come Wimbledon, and after 12 years since first doing it, she may be holding all the four slams once again. And that will be the single biggest achievement in all of sports.