List of unbreakable records held by Serena Williams
What's the story
The game of tennis has witnessed a number of legendary players to date, across genders. Among females, one of the GOATs who continues to weave her magic is Serena Williams. She already has 23 Grand Slams to her name and will look to equal Margaret Court, when she takes on Simona Halep tonight. Here we look at some unbreakable records held by her.
Ranking
Consecutive weeks as number one ranked player
Serena has been the world number one player for a total of 319 weeks only behind Steffi Graf (377) and Martina Navratilova (332). Interestingly, she spent a record 186 consecutive weeks as numero uno. She shares this accolade with Graf and no other woman is even close to breaking it. Further, in this decade (2010s), she has been the number one for 236 weeks.
Legend
Only player to win Grand Slam in three different decades
Serena's first Grand Slam win came in 1999, when she won the US Open. Between 2001-2010, she won 12 titles, while since 2011, she has won 10 Slams. When she won Wimbledon in 2012, she became the first woman in the history of tennis to win Grand Slam in three decades. The kind of form she is in, she might even win in 2020s.
Domination
Most wins over world number one players
Ever since the WTA rankings were introduced in 1975, 27 players have been ranked number one. Interestingly, Serena holds another unbreakable record here. She has beaten 22 of them. Four of them retired even before her career began, while the only number one ranked player she has not defeated is Naomi Osaka of Japan. Hard to imagine anyone replicating this.
Performance
60+ wins in all four Grand Slams
Serena has won a total of 23 Grand Slams. However, one of the interesting aspects of her title victories is that she has more than 60 wins in all four Slams. Australia Open: 85-11, French Open: 65-13, Wimbledon: 92-11 (excluding 2019) and US Open: 95-12. While she is the only woman to do so, to date, no one is even close to this feat.
Most GS titles
Most Grand Slam singles title win in Open Era
The last, but the obvious one. As we mentioned earlier, she is just one short of equaling Margaret Court to script the joint-most Grand Slam title wins. However, she has already made the record in the Open Era, winning 23 of them. Among the current players, her sister Venus Williams is next with only seven titles.