Serena Closing in on All Time Greats by Matt Cronin

Written by: Staff on 8th September 2013

Serena Closing in on All Time Greats by Matt Cronin

epa03858660 Serena Williams of the US celebrates with the championship trophy after defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to win the women's final on the fourteenth day of the 2013 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 08 September 2013. The US Open runs through Monday 09 September, a 15-day schedule for the first time. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

NEW YORK – By winning her 17th Grand Slam title at the US Open on Sunday, the spectacular Serena Williams is now just one major crown behind Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth place on the all time list.

Australian Margaret Court leads the Grand Slam singles titles list with 24, but most of those were won before the Open Era began in 1968 when pros and amateurs began to play tournaments together, so some historians do not consider her total to be the one to tie or beat.

The smooth American Helen Wills Moody won 19 during the 1920s and 30s and while pre World War 2 titles do have significance, the game was much smaller and much less international then.

It is modern player Steffi Graf of Germany’s 22 Grand Slam singles overall that is considered to be the high water mark. Unless the soon to be 31 year old Williams suffers a major injury, she is almost sure to catch Evert and Navratilova, and even pass them. But Graf at 22 majors?

That is a long way away. Consider this: only two players, Virginia Wade (1977 Wimbledon) and Navratilova (1990 Wimbledon) have won major at older ages than Serena was when she was raising the US Open trophy on Sunday at 31 years and 347 days. Can Serena still be a dominant player in 2014 and 2015, which is what it will likely take for her to even tie Graf?

“I feel great,” she said. “I’m happy that I’m first of all able to get to this age. A lot of people don’t make it this far in our world and our society. So it’s an honor. God willing, I will be 32 soon. I embrace it. I think it’s awesome. There is a whole new level of sport. Technology and things are different. You can continue to play for so many years and be successful for so many years. I have won [then US Open] over three decades, ’90s, the 2000s, and this one. You can only do that when you’re younger and older, so I’m happy that I have had this opportunity.”

Williams has so may positives to her game that it is possible in great health, even if the record books say its improbable. She not only has the game’s most effective and hardest serve, a big return and searing groundstrokes, but she consistently fights like hell and she’s incredibly resilient. She is almost always expected to win and for the most part, she still comes through. She does not get bored and is insatiable for more.

“She’s so happy every time she wins a Grand Slam,” said her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. “It’s a new story and every time she steps on court with that pressure on her shoulders it’s an achievement to win it at the end. Most of the players when they have pressure, they take the wrong way and try to take the exit. She didn’t. She’s worked harder and worked every point during every match, which is something she never did in the past. That says she can still do new things.”

Williams is very driven person, so much so that had Azarenka upended her, she would have ended the year with only one Gran Slam title, the French Open. That she said would have left her disappointed. Now the world No. 1 feels

a lot better with a second Grand Slam under her belt.

And guess what? Grand Slam title No. 17 ties her with another legend, a Swiss one who owns the men’s record of most major titles with 17. She admires that man, Roger Federer, a great deal, even though he has fallen out of the top 5 at the age of 32 and is struggling to keep up with the Nadals, Djokovics and Murrays of this world.

“It’s an honor to be even with Roger,” she said. “He’s been such a great champion throughout the years, and he’s just an unbelievable competitor and he’s still playing still, and he can probably still win more. So it feels really good to be in that same league as him. He’s just been so incredibly consistent, so we have had really different careers. Then to be compared with Chrissy and Martina, not yet, because I’m still not quite there yet. Numbers‑wise they’re still greater.”

Yes they are but that likely won’t last long, maybe not even until next February when the 2014 Australian Open closes it doors. By then, Serena might be leaving Melbourne with her sixth Aussie Open title and Slam crown No. 18.

Williams has admitted this season that she has grown more nervous in big matches as she has aged. After a shaky second set against Azarenka when she blew a 4-1 lead and failed to serve the contest out twice, she calmed down and coolly weaved her way through the third set.

She is still out there giving lessons in match management to the younger set. She’s as honest with her feelings as she is truthfully great with her tennis.

Steffi Graf, whom she beat in their second meeting when she was just a 17 year old, has better keep her record under lock and key.

“When you’re always trying to write history, or join history in my case, maybe you just get a little more nervous than you should,” Serena said. “I also think it’s kind of cool because it means that it means a lot to you. It means a lot to me, this trophy, and every single trophy that I have. It makes me feel that I’m still fighting just to be a part of this fabulous sport.”

Topics: 10sballs, French Open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Tennis, US Open, Victoria Azarenka, Wimbledon