In her career, Serena Williams has attained nearly every achievable milestone. She has won multiple women’s singles and doubles titles at each of the four Grand Slam events – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open – as well as Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles. She has been crowned a major champion in three different decades – 1990s, 2000s and 2010s – and as a teenager, in her 20s and now in her 30s. And she has been ranked No. 1 in the world across 13 years.
In August, she will come to New York and the US Open looking to add another remarkable chapter to perhaps the greatest career in tennis history: the calendar-year Grand Slam.
With her 6-4, 6-4 victory at Wimbledon over Spanish rising star Garbine Muguruza, Williams now holds all four Grand Slam titles for the second time in her career (also 2002-03). The only other players to do that since 1980 are Steffi Graf (1988-89 and 1993-94) and Martina Navratilova (1984-85).
A victory in Flushing Meadows would then give Serena all four major titles in the same year, a stunning – and rare – achievement. Since the dawn of tennis’ Open era in 1968, only three other players have won the calendar Slam: Rod Laver in 1969, Margaret Court in 1970 and Graf in 1988. And in tennis history, the feat has only been accomplished six times, also by Don Budge in 1938, Maureen Connolly in 1953 and Laver in 1962.
In fact, only 10 women in tennis history, and only five in the Open era, have won even a career Grand Slam. And that is a list that already includes Serena.
In addition to the calendar Slam, a tournament title at the US Open would also deliver the following for the indomitable world No. 1:
- It would mark her 22nd Grand Slam singles title, tying Graf for the most in the Open era and for second all-time, trailing only Court’s 24.
- It would be her seventh US Open singles title, breaking a tie with Chris Evert for the most US Open singles titles, man or woman, in the Open era.
- It would be her fourth consecutive US Open women’s singles title, tying Evert (1975-78) for the most in the Open era.
The 2015 US Open begins Monday, Aug. 31, and runs through Sunday, Sept. 13. To purchase tickets and for additional ticket information, please visit the individual tickets and ticket plans pages.
