Serena was great but there were specific skills
she had that pushed her into the elites of women's tennis, and here they are.
To paint a perfect picture, we have to mention a few things about Serena's rise to stardom. At 14,
she turned pro but due to age eligibility restrictions, she couldn't compete freely.
But at the age of 16, she was able to break into the top 100 after becoming the lowest
ranked player in the Open Era to defeat two top 10 players in one tournament as
world number 304. Those players were Mary Pierce and Monica Seles at the Ameritech Cup Chicago.
The following year saw Serena jump almost 80 places and into the top 20 with deep
runs at several tournaments. If you thought that was impressive,
let me remind you that we are just getting started because what you are
about to see next is C.R.A.Z.Y. Serena the Record Breaker
Less than a year after cracking the top 20, a 17-year-old Serena Williams
won the US Open in 1999 and became only the second African-American woman to do so after
Althea Gibson in 1958. Within 3 years, she had completed a career Slam, winning the French Open,
Wimbledon, which finally helped her to claim the World number 1 position for the first time,
as well as the 2002 US Open, and the Australian Open the following year.
But before you know what's going on, 2002 quickly becomes 2022 and Serena has won 23
Majors in 33 finals - 7 apiece at the US Open and Wimbledon, 6 in Australia, and 3 at the
French Open. 73 singles titles, 14 in doubles, Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles,
319 weeks as world number 1 with 186 of those being consecutive weeks, five No. 1 year-end
rankings, and 858 match wins on the WTA tour. The American remains the only player, male or female,
to boast of a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. How did she smash the record books?
I'll tell ya. Style of Play
Growing up on the public courts of Compton, California,
Serena learned to be super competitive. Her game was defined by raw power, speed,
and a blatant desire to win at all costs. Her serve in particular,
remains the greatest ever. She could boast of accurate and consistent serves like Roger Federer,
and powerful hitting comparable to the likes of Andy Roddick. In essence, everything was
there - precise placement, disguise, and power. A great example of how dominating her serves were
was in Wimbledon 2012 where she hit 85 aces en route to the final. What in the world.
This meant that Serena's serves more than anything else, were able to do the damage. Her 128 mph ace,
which she served in the third round of the 2013 Australian Open was the third
fastest in WTA history. Even at critical moments, Serena could produce such clutch
performances when needed. The WTA only started keeping match stats in 2008 so,
the numbers don't do justice, still we can see Serena dominating in aces, first serve
points won, service games, and services points won. Even when her first serves didn't go in,
opponents were faced with the arduous task of dealing with a massive kick
serve on many occasions. But it wasn't just the serves...it was all-court intimidation.
Serena's groundstrokes were some of the best ever seen in the game. She hit both forehand
and backhand strokes with an open stance and was able to produce powerful and heavy shots,
opening up angles that you didn't know were existent on the court. If there was any word
to describe her forehand in particular, the word would be "DEVASTATING", so it's not surprising
to see that she hit so many winners throughout her career. Her much flatter backhands were no
slouch either and don't even get me started on her net play. As an experienced doubles player,
she had no problems coming to the net to finish off points. Her returns were equally effective
and her court coverage, footwork, flexibility, and point construction were admirable. Over time,
she was able to change tactics when needed with the help of her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. This
helped her to remain more competitive. A practical example was at the 2015 French
Open where she managed to get past Victoria Azarenka in 3 sets in the 3rd round despite
making 10 double faults and getting only 36% of her first serves in. Williams and her coach,
Patrick Mouratoglou decided it was best to take the risky decision of tinkering with her serve
in the middle of a tournament. She changed her serving position bringing her feet closer and
shifting her weight a little more forward. The move paid off and in her next match,
she produced 13 aces, won 77% of her first serve points and went on to win the tournament. That was
how good Serena Williams was. She was flexible and not afraid to make big changes when she needed to.
However, one of the biggest talking points about her game was her
mentality. Mentality
Just as important as her physical skills was Serena’s mentality and attitude. With a fierce
spirit and unrelenting passion, Serena was willing to suffer through a game,
just to get the W, and she occasionally displayed
irritability and poor sportsmanship when things were not going her way. Still,
her mentality extended beyond the sport and rubbed off on millions of people all over the world.
Throughout her career, Serena Williams experienced some of the most difficult challenges. She had a
knee injury after defending her 2003 Wimbledon title and needed a long recovery. Off the courts,
it was reported that her half sister, Yetunde Price had been gruesomely murdered in September
that year. Everything culminated in depression for Serena and from 2003 to 2007 she only won
one slam but she picked up from where she left and grabbed more titles heading into the 2010s.
She started the decade on a bright note but later on, she had to miss several months of
competition after a blood clot was discovered in her lungs but again, it didn’t take her long to
return to world number 1 and between February 2013 and September 2016, Serena stood alone at
the top for 186 consecutive weeks and nobody could dethrone her. At 35, Serena won the 2017
Australian Open while being 2 months pregnant. She later took a maternity leave after giving
birth to her daughter and returned to the tour shortly after to compete at grand slam finals.
For every time she experienced seemingly insurmountable challenges, Williams had
an emphatic answer to every question. She was always able to channel any negativity
into something productive. What…a…player. One lesser known fact about Williams was her comeback
ability. Three times, she saved match points en route to winning a slam. 2 match points against
Kim Clijsters at the 2003 Australian Open Semis, 3 match points against Sharapova at the 2005 edition
of the same event, and a match point against Dementieva at the Semis of Wimbledon 2009.
At times, it looked like Serena had no rival. Perhaps her biggest rival was herself; injuries
and lengthy sabbaticals, perhaps preventing her from completely DESTROYING her perceived
rivals. She beat Maria Sharapova 20 times out of their 22 meetings. She led Azarenka 18-5,
Justine Henin 8-6, and her sister Venus 19-12. The REAL truth is that on her day,
nobody was really a match for Serena. The American aged like fine wine and won 10 of
her 23 grand slam titles after turning 30. She held all 4 majors twice between 2002-2003 and
2014-2015. Legacy
A 27-year career laced with a high level of play and the ability to overcome all obstacles,
Serena's journey is undoubtedly one of the most storied not just in Tennis but also in
the entire sporting world. She remains a role model for younger players having
inspired millions of people with her work ethic, positive attitude, dedication, and
winning mentality. Outside of tennis, she has used her platform to promote social justice, equality,
and charitable causes. Almost $95 million won from prize money alone but beyond the numbers, Serena
Williams reminds everyone that there are no limits to what you can achieve when you put in the work.
The American redefined greatness and made a strong claim to the title as the best female
tennis player of all time. But Quick question. Do you think Serena Williams is really the greatest
female tennis player of all time? Or would you rather have Steffi Graf who won her 22 grand
slam titles within a 12-year period or Martina Navratilova who was 332 weeks as world number 1,
or someone else ahead of her? I feel it's not as straightforward as a short overhead in an open
court because of the difficulty of comparing different eras of tennis. What do you reckon?
After winning titles in 4 different decades and failing to win an elusive 24th Grand slam
title record set by Margaret Court for long enough, 41-year-old Serena knew it was time to
draw the curtain on her illustrious career that seemed to run in parallel with Roger Federer's;
the Swiss being only one month older than her. Blessed with longevity and
a winning mindset, Serena's legacy is set in stone for generations to come.
**Despite being a legend in the game, Serena put her family above every other thing else. Let’s
take a quick look into Serena William’s EXTRAORDINARY family in this next video.