Serena Williams will go down as one of the best, if not the best player women’s tennis has ever seen after announcing her impending retirement this week. With 23 Grand Slams and 73 career titles to her name, one of the greats of the game will certainly be missed.
As her final US Open appearance approaches at the end of the month, here is a look at the six times Serena Williams won the US Open.
1999: beat Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6(4)
Battle of the Teenagers
Williams’ first victory at Flushing Meadows came at the expense of the Swiss favourite, and fellow legend to the sport, Martina Hingis.
Hingis, 18-years-old at the time, was ranked No.1 in the world, and Williams, 17 years-old, ranked just below in sixth.
In the late 1900s and early 2000s teenage slam finals where as common as Novak Djokovic winning another Wimbledon.
Hingis had been dominating the game since 16, almost completing the calendar grand slam in 1997, winning all but the French Open. Williams on the other hand didn’t have a single major to her name and was seen as the underdog going into the final.
For many, it was only a matter of time before Williams made her first slam final, and she certainly made the most of it.
Overcoming big names such as future Open champion Kim Clijsters, Monica Seles and defending champion Lindsay Davenport on her way to the final, Williams was too much for Hingis and scratched off her first of 23 slam wins in emphatic fashion.
Williams became the first black woman to win a major title since Althea Gibson in 1958.
Also Read:
2002: beat Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3
Williams Dominance
The Williams sisters had been dominating the US Open for the previous three years, and it was the same for the 122nd edition of the tournament.
In a rematch of the 2001 final in which favourite Venus came out on top 6-2, 6-4, it was Serena who was the favourite, winning her third consecutive major title and her second consecutive major without dropping a single set.
After Serena’s 1999 win at Flushing Meadows, Venus had won the 2000 and 2001 US Opens, and with Serena’s 2002 win, she had drawn level with her sister on four majors each, however at the time neither had made it to an Australian Open final, surprisingly.
2008: beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5
A Return to the Top
After a run of knee injuries from 2004 to 2006 in which Williams would find herself outside of the top 10 for the first time since entering it, she would then drop outside of the top 100 in 2016 after only being able to play four tournaments.
After her recovery in 2007, Williams ended her 6-year US Open winning drought in 2008 with a stunning run, once again not dropping a single set all tournament.
Jelena Jankovic, former No.1, had a career-best major performance, but it wasn’t enough to knock Williams who projected back to No.1 in the world for the first time since 2003.
Williams had to overcome her sister Venus once again, this time in the quarter-final, in what many believe to be the pairs best match against one another.
Serena came out on top winning both tiebreaks, 7-6(8-6), 7-6(9-7), a payback win in some ways after losing to Venus a few months earlier in the 2008 Wimbledon final. This would be Serena’s ninth career slam, three of which coming at Flushing Meadows.
2012: beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
A Three Set Final?
In what was the first women’s singles US Open final to go to a deciding set since 1995, it was also arguably the one Williams had to work the hardest for.
In what was a relatively test-free journey to the final for Williams, beating the likes of 12th seed Ana Ivanovic and 10th seed Sara Errani, Victoria Azarenka was the big final test.
World number one and Australian Open champion Azarenka had already defeated defending champion Samantha Stosur in the quarter finals and was going into the final with grinning confidence.
Williams took the first set in convincing fashion, before Azarenka mirrored that score, taking the match to a final set.
At 5-3, Azarenka served for the championship however Williams was too much for the Belarusian and won the next four service games, lifting her fourth US Open title and 15th major singles title.
With the victory, Williams become the third women in history to win Wimbledon, Olympic gold and the US Open in the same year. Following in the footsteps of Steffi Graf and Venus Williams.
Also Read:
2013: beat Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-1
Same Opponent, Same Location, Same Outcome
Williams won her first consecutive US Open title in a repeat of the 2012 final, which once again went to a deciding set. Williams only lost one set in both the 2012 and 2013 tournaments, both of which were to Azarenka who once again couldn’t overcome the American.
Williams came into the 133rd edition of the US Open off the back of a surprising fourth round exit at Wimbledon. However the American was able to brush the disappointment to the side and win her 17th major singles title.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a simple final for Williams who served for the championship twice in the second set, before being forced to a decider in which she obliterated Azarenka in devastating fashion winning 6-1.
2014: beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3
Three’s the Lucky Number
In Williams’ most recent US Open win, three seemed to be the lucky number for the American. She didn’t lose a set for the whole tournament for a record-equalling third time, whilst also not losing a set the whole tournament by more than three games and winning her third consecutive US Open.
She faced 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki, 2018 Australian Open winner, who was unable to displace Williams and battle her to the lengths that Azarenka had done for the previous two years.
Williams’ win was her Open Era-record-equalling sixth US Open singles title and 18th major singles title. With those number she equalled both Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert’s tallies.
After her 2014 US Open win, Williams won another five grand slams, reaching her tally of 23 grand slam titles, the most by any player in the Open Era.
The American has reached two more US Open finals since 2014, losing them both in straight sets to Naomi Osaka in 2018 and Bianca Andreescu in 2019.
With her final ever US Open appearance coming up in a few weeks it is safe to say that Williams has had a career to remember for decades, and who knows with only slam title away from Margaret’s Court’s record 24, how about one final Flushing Meadows run?