Alright Serena!!!

[alexrgct]

Serena Williams literally joined Martina and Chrissy on court just now and has also won 18 slams like them: five Aussies, two French Opens, five Wimbledons, and now six US Opens! That's more US Opens than Steffi! Add three doubles gold medals, one women's single Olympic gold, and 13 doubles majors, and her credentials are just mind boggling. Nice humor and class showed by the adorable Caroline Wozniacki, by the way. All told, a thoroughly satisfying afternoon for women's tennis! Go Serena- you are the GOAT!

 

[VAUConnFan]

That was a nice visual with Serena standing between Martina and Chris. Makes one wonder if Serena, herself, will be as involved with the game 25-30 years from now.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Tennis Stars can earn upwards $10-$20 million dollars a year, excluding endorsements. I'm surprised US doesn't have any talented youngsters in the pipeline. This is especially true on the Mens side where John Isner is ranked 15th. Only two US players are in the Top 50.

Once Serena retires in a couple of years is there a US Women that can take her place. Sloane Stevens is ranked 24th and I don't see her ever getting to a #1 Ranking.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-09-06/why-have-american-mens-tennis-stars-disappeared

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/magazine/can-us-mens-tennis-rise-again.html

 

[DaddyChoc]

I agree... Serena Williams is the GOAT, she's also the oldest to win it

 

[alexrgct]

The one outstanding question for Serena relates to how many more majors she can win at age 33 (which she will be by the 2015 Australian Open). Can she catch Steffi Graf's 22 and Margaret Court's 24? I'm not sure for how much longer she can play at a championship level, but if she's just shy of 36 this time of year 2017 after having played three more years akin to how she has the past couple, these stratospheric accomplishments would absolutely have been in play.

 

[wallman]

Borg and Graf are two of my all time favorite players along with a soft spot for McEnroe.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Martina gets engaged at the Open (article)

 

[Suebird10fan]

The one outstanding question for Serena relates to how many more majors she can win at age 33 (which she will be by the 2015 Australian Open). Can she catch Steffi Graf's 22 and Margaret Court's 24? I'm not sure for how much longer she can play at a championship level, but if she's just shy of 36 this time of year 2017 after having played three more years akin to how she has the past couple, these stratospheric accomplishments would absolutely have been in play.

Number of majors Court, Graf, Evert and Navratilova won between them at age > 32? One.

I'd love to see Serena get to 20, but I think anything beyond that is very unrealistic.

 

[AnotherVolFan]

I honestly see Serena winning all 4 next year if COMPLETELY healthy! She did say
She wants to focus solely on majors next year! I believe she's focused on Graf's record. Im hoping she plays until she's 55 lmao! Tennis just won't be the same once Serena is gone. Im thankful im living through this era of tennis! I have enjoyed her and Federer for so many years now!

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Serena Williams literally joined Martina and Chrissy on court just now and has also won 18 slams like them: five Aussies, two French Opens, five Wimbledons, and now six US Opens! That's more US Opens than Steffi! Add three doubles gold medals, one women's single Olympic gold, and 13 doubles majors, and her credentials are just mind boggling. Nice humor and class showed by the adorable Caroline Wozniacki, by the way. All told, a thoroughly satisfying afternoon for women's tennis! Go Serena- you are the GOAT!

She also has two Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles.

 

[alexrgct]

Number of majors Court, Graf, Evert and Navratilova won between them at age > 32? One.

I'd love to see Serena get to 20, but I think anything beyond that is very unrealistic.

Well, beyond 20 seems pretty damn realistic to me!

And I repeat...ALRIGHT SERENA!!! She's now won three career Grand Slams!

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[AnotherVolFan]

I'm hoping she gets the calendar grand slam this year.....halfway there!!! Go Serenaaaaaaa!

 

[Dennygrnn]

Serena Williams literally joined Martina and Chrissy on court just now and has also won 18 slams like them: five Aussies, two French Opens, five Wimbledons, and now six US Opens! That's more US Opens than Steffi! Add three doubles gold medals, one women's single Olympic gold, and 13 doubles majors, and her credentials are just mind boggling. Nice humor and class showed by the adorable Caroline Wozniacki, by the way. All told, a thoroughly satisfying afternoon for women's tennis! Go Serena- you are the GOAT!

Actually - this was Serena's 20th title: 3 French, 6 Aussie, 6 U.S., and 5 Wimbledon

 

[alexrgct]

Actually - this was Serena's 20th title: 3 French, 6 Aussie, 6 U.S., and 5 Wimbledon

You apparently missed the date/time of the original post for this thread. I started it right after the conclusion of the 2014 US Open, I revived it after Serena won the 2015 French because SueBird10Fan's assertion that Serena almost certainly couldn't challenge Steffi for Open Era Slams seems a questionable prediction in retrospect.

 

[EricLA]

Hooray for Serena! Love her game. Her attitude at times is... not the greatest, but she's MUCH better than she was as a youngster and I love watching her play and compete. Truly a once in a generation player!!

 

[alexrgct]

The crazy thing is how much will be at stake at Wimbledon this year. If Serena prevails in that tournament, think of everything she'll have on her record:

- 21 major titles
-six titles in three different major tournaments (Australian, U.S., and Wimbledon in that event)
- she'd already have ANOTHER "Serena Slam" by virtue of having won four slams in a row. She did it from the 2002 French through the 2003 Aussie Open, and at stake now is the 2014 U.S. Open through 2015 Wimbledon.
-And of course winning Wimbledon would put her in position to win not just a Serena Slam, but a full-fledged calendar-year Grand Slam!

Go Serena! Even more to deposit into your career "account" at the All-England Club!!!

 

[alexrgct]

To put one more fine point on Serena and how extraordinary she's been:

• Martina won her first major in 1978 and her last in 1990.
• Steffi won her first in 1987 and her last in 1999.
• Chrissy won her first in 1974 and her last in 1986.
• Margaret Court won her first in 1960 and her last in 1973.
• Pete Sampras won his first in 1990 and his last in 2002.

In short, a span of 12-13 years of winning at a championship level seems to be the norm for all-time greats, both men and women. I don't think anyone has won majors for a longer stretch than that.

Well, Serena has. She won her first in 1999 and has won her last to date in 2015. And of course, this may well not be her last calendar year of winning majors.

In the longevity department, there's been no comparison to Serena...and I don't know if there ever will be.

 

[ScarlettB]

IMO Serena is the GOAT. She may not have as many slams yet as Steffi, who was definitely a terrific player but, Steffi benefitted from the Monica Seles stabbing. Seles was ranked number 1 in 1993 and was unable to compete for two years after the stabbing, so she missed 7 majors in that time period - 4 of which were won by Graf. When Monica finally did return to tennis, she was never able to regain her form from before the attack.

 

[Dennygrnn]

You apparently missed the date/time of the original post for this thread. I started it right after the conclusion of the 2014 US Open, I revived it after Serena won the 2015 French because SueBird10Fan's assertion that Serena almost certainly couldn't challenge Steffi for Open Era Slams seems a questionable prediction in retrospect.

You are correct, Alex - my apologies! In my exuberance to celebrate Serena's achievements, I stopped reading.

 

[easttexastrash]

Too bad that we can't see Serena play Steffi. Steffi was so fast and had such an incredible forehand and a wicked slice backhand. Would have been one heck of a matchup.

 

[VAMike23]

Too bad that we can't see Serena play Steffi. Steffi was so fast and had such an incredible forehand and a wicked slice backhand. Would have been one heck of a matchup.

Steffi's speed is the first of her great competitive attributes to be (largely) forgotten by more casual fans. She was phenomenally athletic.

 

[VAUConnFan]

An interesting analysis by Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenst...est-tennis-player-of-all-time-male-or-female/

 

[meyers7]

 

[easttexastrash]

Steffi's speed is the first of her great competitive attributes to be (largely) forgotten by more casual fans. She was phenomenally athletic.

I have no doubt that she would have been a world class track runner had she chosen to pursue that instead of tennis.