[Dallas, TX – July 13th]
Williams defeated promising Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-4 6-4 in southwest London to complete the “Serena Slam” — winning four straight majors — for the second time and is now well on the way to making more history at the season’s final grand slam.
“I honestly wouldn’t have thought last year after winning the U.S. Open I would win the Serena Slam at all,” Williams, emulating her feat of 2002-2003, told reporters. “It’s super exciting.”
21 and Counting
Williams now has 21 Grand Slam singles titles, one fewer than Graf, who won more than any player since the start of the Open era, which began in 1968.
Williams, who has won the U.S. Open three straight years, said she was considering the historic possibilities, but would have to put them out of her mind soon. “I can’t think about that. I have to go into New York thinking, listen, I want to win the U.S. Open,” she said.
As she overcame some early jitters and dispatched Muguruza on Saturday, it became clear that Serena has not lost an ounce of poise, strength or agility. We aren’t just watching the greatest women’s tennis player of all time. We’re watching one whose greatest accomplishments, improbably, may be yet to come.
