Serena Williams is through to a Grand Slam final once again where she will face her older sister, Venus. But how has Serena managed to maintain at the top and dominate for so long and how far can she go as she nears the end of her career?
Her story
Serena Jameka Williams was born on September 26th, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, according to the Biography website. In 1995 Serena joined pro and two years later, she was number 99 in the world. In 1999 she beat Venus in the "race for the family's first Grand Slam", winning the US Open title. Since then, both Venus and especially Serena began to dominate.
In 2002 Serena won the French Open, the US Open and Wimbledon. She captured the Australian Open in 2003, making her one of only six women to complete a career Slam. In addition to this, Serena also managed to hold all four major titles simultaneously, which was consequently named, "the Serena Slam". Throughout the course of her career, the younger Williams sister has won 22 majors. Only one more is needed to overtake Steffi Graf.
How has she been able to dominate for so long?
So the question is, how has she managed to stay at the top and dominate for so long? One individual on the Reddit website stated that Serena is just "so much stronger physically than the rest of the women's field". The Guardian newspaper noted that Serena has "quite simply 'owned' her greatest rivals" to the extent that the competition has suffered as a result.
Another reason for her success is her consistency. For the duration of her career, she has held top spot for six times and is the only player to have won 10 Grand Slams in two consecutive decades. It has also been claimed that Serena "redefined what a woman can do" on a tennis court. She is more athletic, serves more accurately and faster than any other female player in history.
Further on from this is her mental resolve. Williams has fought back from a number of injuries throughout her career; the worst being in 2010-2011 when she was out of the sport for a year.
How much further can she go?
It is clear that Serena has had a wonderful career. She has led from the front, revolutionised the sport and written herself into tennis history.
But now at the age of 35, how much further can she go? The Bleacher Report website noted that as "she's not talking retirement", if she "stay's healthy", she could go on to win another three to five more Grand Slams. Whatever Serena goes on to achieve, what can be in doubt that she will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.
