After a 27-year professional career in tennis, legend Serena Williams is ready to “evolve away” from the sport she dominated like any other at the US Open 2022. The 40-year-old announced early this month in an essay for Vogue magazine that her desire to have another child is one of the reasons for her to take a move away from courts.
While her goodbye isn’t a total surprise after she spent almost a year without playing, tennis fans mourn the end of an amazing career. As Naomi Osaka explained in a press conference ahead of the US Open, her “legacy is really wide to the point where you can’t even describe it in words.” As the four-time Grand Slam champion put it, Serena could be “the biggest force in the sport,” with the respect of the Big Three.
Williams not only is one of the most successful tennis players ever, she is also considered one of the truly game-changers.On the court, her powerful and aggressive style of play, which is now common at the WTA Tour, made the game better. Off the courts, following the legacy of Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, she and her older sister Venus helped inspire a new generation of Black players such as Osaka herself and Coco Gauff.
How many titles has Serena Williams won?
Serena Williams is one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of tennis. The 40-year-old has won 73 titles in singles, including 23 Grand Slams, and 23 in doubles, making a total of 98 titles. In the Open Era, she is the eleventh female player with most titles, counting both singles and doubles, behind Billie Jean King (101).
If only counting singles titles, she is the sixth player with most titles also behind Billie Jean King (78). The female player with most singles titles is Martina Navratilova (167), followed by Chris Evert (157), Steffi Graf (107) and Margaret Court (92).
All titles won by Serena Williams by year
Among Williams’ records in singles, she has 13 Grand Slam titles on hard courts. She is also the only tennis player, male or female, to win three of the four Grand Slams at least 6 times. In the Open Era, she is the only player with seven titles at the Australian Open. If she wins the US Open this year, she will become the only player with seven titles in New York and would break a tie with Chris Evert. Here, check out all her singles titles:
| Year | Title |
| 1999 | Open GDF Suez Indian Wells Open LA Championships US Open Grand Slam Cup |
| 2000 | Faber Grand Prix LA Championships Toyota Princess Cup |
| 2001 | Indian Wells Open(2) Canadian Open WTA Finals |
| 2002 | State Farm Classic Miami Open Italian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open (2) Toyota Princess Cup (2) Sparkassen Cup |
| 2003 | Australian Open Open GDF Suez (2) Miami Open (2) Wimbledon (2) |
| 2004 | Miami Open (3) China Open |
| 2005 | Australian Open (2) |
| 2007 | Australian Open (3) Miami Open (4) |
| 2008 | Bangalore Open Miami Open (5) Charleston Open US Open (3) |
| 2009 | Australian Open (4) Wimbledon (3) WTA Finals (2) |
| 2010 | Australian Open (5) Wimbledon (4) |
| 2011 | Stanford Classic Canadian Open (2) Charleston Open (2) |
| 2012 | Madrid Open Wimbledon (5) Stanford Classic (2) Summer Olympics (Gold) US Open (4) WTA Finals (3) |
| 2013 | Brisbane Miami Open (6) Charleston Open (3) Madrid Open (2) Italian Open (2) French Open (2) Swedish Open Canadian Open (3) US Open (5) China Open (2) WTA Finals (4) |
| 2014 | Brisbane (2) Miami Open (7) Italian Open (3) Stanford Classic (3) Cincinnati Open US Open (6) WTA Finals (5) |
| 2015 | Australian Open (6) Miami Open (8) French Open (3) Wimbledon (6) Cincinnati Open (2) |
| 2016 | Italian Open (4) Wimbledon (7) |
| 2017 | Australian Open (7) |
| 2020 | Auckland Open |
Meanwhile, in doubles, Serena and Venus are the only tennis players in history with four Olympic gold medals (three in doubles, one each in singles) and the only players Open Era women tennis players to win Olympic Gold in both the singles and doubles categories. However, one of her most incredible records is that she is the only player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. All her doubles titles:
| Year | Title |
| 1998 | US National Championships Zurich Open |
| 1999 | Faber Grand Prix French Open US Open |
| 2000 | Wimbledon Summer Olympics (Gold) |
| 2001 | Australian Open |
| 2002 | Wimbledon (2) Sparkassen Cup |
| 2003 | Australian Open (2) |
| 2008 | Wimbledon (3) Summer Olympics (Gold) |
| 2009 | Australian Open (3) Wimbledon (4) Stanford Classic US Open (2) |
| 2010 | Australian Open (4) Madrid Open French Open (2) |
| 2012 | Wimbledon (5) Summer Olympics (Gold) |
| 2016 | Wimbledon (6) |