Tennis

The Numbers Game: Serena Williams

On my personal blog, I wrote a similar post for Roger Federer (my fave if you hadn’t already noticed). But while he’s my pick for the male GOAT, he’s not The GOAT. That accolade lies at the feet of Serena Williams. I’ve taken her feats for granted. I recognised her as a great and then as the greatest but without actually absorbing what it looked like in numbers. I’ve watched her dominate matches and bring out the best in her opponents, as Serena discussed a few weeks ago. Serena lost on Saturday to a better player on the day but Angelique Kerber still took the time to praise Serena during her winner’s speech.

And why? Just look at the numbers:

(As of 15th March 2020)

  • 92,715,122 – Serena’s prize money earnings (in dollars)
  • 834 – Number of professional wins in his career
  • 298 – Number of consecutive weeks in the top 50 (from 14th August 2011 to 18th March 2018)
  • 351 – Number of matches won in Grand Slams
  • 319 – Number of weeks spent as World Number 1
  • 176 – Number of Top 10 wins
  • 73 – Number of career titles
  • 85.3 – Career win percentage
  • 7 – Number of double bagels wins (6-0 6-0)
  • 34 – Number of consecutive matches won in 2013, from 11th February to 1st July.
  • 13 – Number of hardcourt grand slam singles titles won – the most of anybody – male or female – in the Open Era.
  • 401 – Number of Grand Slam appearances overall
  • 52 – Number of Grand Slam quarter-final appearances
  • 38 – Number of Grand Slam semi-final appearances
  • 33 – Number of Grand Slam final appearances
  • 23 – Number of Grand Slam titles
  • 0 – Number of Grand Slam doubles finals lost
  • 4 – Number of Olympic gold medals won in singles and doubles

Serena may have played below under best on Saturday but she still reached a final after a difficult pregnancy and post-natal experience. Before you criticise, ask yourself: could you? With these numbers behind you?

(Image courtesy of Yann Caradec under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license)

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