Legend Serena Williams to retire from tennis after US Open
Tennis legend Serena Williams is set to retire from tennis. Williams, 40, announced her decision to retire in the September edition of Vogue magazine on Tuesday. The 23-time Grand Slam winner will play her last match at the US Open, starting August 29. Williams last made an on-court appearance in the National Bank Open on Monday, wherein she beat Spain's Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3, 6-4.
Serena has clinched six US Open titles
Serena has six US Open titles (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014), the joint-most with Chris Evert in the Open Era. She clinched the first of her 23 majors by winning the US Open in 1999. By winning another, Serena can have the joint-second-most US Open titles (7) with Helen Wills (all-time list). She has a win-loss record of 106-14 at the US Open.
Serena has appeared in 10 US Open finals
Serena has appeared in 10 US Open finals, having won six of them. Meanwhile, Williams has reached the semis stage 14 times in the tournament. She last won the US Open in 2014. Ever since the American has lost three semi-finals and two finals. In 2020, Serena lost the US Open semi-finals to Belarusia's Victoria Azarenka.
Williams holds a distinguishable feat
Williams is the only woman to have recorded more than 65 wins across all four Slams. Australia Open: 92-13, French Open: 69-14, Wimbledon: 98-14, and US Open: 106-14. The record is unlikely to be broken in the near future.
Other records of Serena at US Open
Serena has won the US Open without losing a set thrice (2002, 2008, and 2014). She is one of the two women to have won over 100 US Open matches, the other being Evert (101). Among active players, Venus Williams is behind Serena in terms of match-wins (79). Serena has the third-best win percentage (88.3) at this Slam among women with over 50 wins.
Monumental records held by Williams
Williams is the only player (male or female) to win three of the four majors six times (US Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon). She is only the third player to achieve a Career Grand Slam in singles and doubles (along with sister Venus Williams) after Margaret Court and Martina Navratilova. Williams has spent 186 consecutive weeks as the top-ranked WTA player, joint-most with Steffi Graf.
The Grand Slam drought of Serena
Serena last won a Grand Slam title in 2017 at the Australian Open. The American has qualified for two Wimbledon (2018-19) and two US Open finals (2018-19) ever since. She also reached the semi-finals at US Open (2020) and Australian Open (2021). Prior to this drought, Serena had won at least one Grand Slam for six straight years (2012-2017).
