Legend Serena Williams bows out: Decoding her unbreakable records
Tennis legend Serena Williams bowed out after losing her third-round match at the 2022 US Open to Ajla Tomljanovic. The former world number one had announced that she will retire from tennis after the ongoing US Open. Williams will be remembered for her majestic feats on the WTA Tour. She finishes with a record 23 Grand Slam titles. Here are her unbreakable records.
Most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era
Williams has won the most number of Grand Slams (women's singles) in the Open Era. She is just one short of equaling Margaret Court (24) to script the joint-most major title wins overall. Williams is followed by Steffi Graf (22), Chris Evert (18), and Martina Navratilova (18) on the tally. Among the current players, her sister Venus Williams is next with only seven titles.
Her incredible numbers at Grand Slams
Williams clinched the first of her majors in 1999 by winning the US Open (six titles). In 2017, she won her seventh Australian Open title, the most in the Open Era. The American also owns as many titles at Wimbledon. Williams has won the French Open thrice in 2002, 2013, and 2015 respectively. She has a win-loss record of 367-56 at majors.
More than 65 wins across all four Slams
Williams remains the only woman to have recorded more than 65 wins across all four Slams. Australian Open: 92-13, French Open: 69-14, Wimbledon: 98-14, and US Open: 108-15. The record is unlikely to be broken in the near future.
Most singles wins at the US Open
Williams is one of the two women to have won over 100 matches at the US Open, the other being Evert (101). Among active players, Venus Williams is behind Serena in terms of match-wins (79). Williams has the most singles wins at the US Open.
Williams has these special distinctions
In 2014/15, Williams won four consecutive Grand Slam titles for the second time in her career. She had accomplished the feat for the first time in 2002/03. Williams and Graf are the only two players in the Open Era to win four consecutive majors on two separate occasions. The former also holds the record for winning a major in three different decades.
Her other monumental records
Williams is the only player (male or female) to win three of the four majors six times (US Open, Australian Open, and 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 Graf.
Grand Slam singles titles in three decades
Williams has become the second player to win a Grand Slam singles titles in three decades after Martina Navratilova (US Open 1999, French Open 2002, Australian Open 2010). She has won all four major singles titles in two decades (with Court and Graf).
Williams spent 319 weeks at the top
Williams is one of five players (male or female) in the Open Era to have spent 300+ weeks as the top-ranked player (319) in the WTA Rankings. Graf, Novak Djokovic, Martina Navratilova, and Roger Federer are the others on the list.
