Serena Williams solidified her place as one of the greatest athletes of all time Saturday, defeating her older sister Venus, 6-4, 6-4, in the Australian Open women’s singles final to capture her record-breaking 23rd Open era Grand Slam singles championship. With the win, Serena moves past Steffi Graf as the all-time Open era major winner and becomes the first player in the Open era – man or woman – to win seven Australian Open titles.
Here is more on the history-making American:
The Serena Williams File
Age: 35
Height: 5-9
Residence: Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Current Rank: 2
Career-high rank: 1 (July 2002)
Best US Open finish: Champion (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)
The Baseline
- Serena will regain the world’s No. 1 ranking from Angelique Kerber on Monday after securing the 2017 Australian Open title. The American had been the world’s top-ranked player for a record-tying 186 consecutive weeks before Kerber took over the top spot after winning the 2016 US Open.
- Saturday’s Australian Open final was the 28th career meeting between the Williams sisters; Serena now leads Venus in head-to-head competition, 17-11. The Williamses first played each other 19 years ago, at the 1998 Australian Open, where the then-18-year-old Venus beat her then-17-year-old little sister, 7-6, 6-1, in the second round. Their only other meeting in Melbourne came five years later in the 2003 final, when Serena claimed her first title Down Under – a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win over her older sister.
- The sisters have squared off in Grand Slam play 15 times in their careers, with their last major meeting taking place in the quarterfinals of the 2015 US Open. They have now faced each other in nine Slam finals, including two times at the US Open – in 2001 (Venus def. Serena, 6-2, 6-4) and 2002 (Serena def. Venus, 6-4, 6-3). Only two of those nine meetings went three sets.
- Serena has won Grand Slam titles in three different decades – one in the 1990s (1999 US Open), 10 in the 2000s (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 Australian Open; 2002 Roland Garros; 2002, 2003, 2009 Wimbledon; 2002, 2008 US Open) and 11 in the 2010s (2010, 2015 Australian Open; 2013, 2015 Roland Garros; 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 Wimbledon; 2012, 2013, 2014 US Open).
- Thirty-six-year-old Venus and 35-year-old Serena's combined age of 71 makes the 2017 Australian Open women's final the oldest in the Open era. Before Saturday’s final, the oldest women’s championship was contested at the 2015 US Open between Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci (66 years).
They Said It!
"Words can't describe how happy I am for this moment, especially here in Melbourne. [Venus and I] started here. This was my first Grand Slam, and to get to No. 23 here is really rather special. And against Venus, as well. My first big match was against her right on this stadium court, so it was weird, going into this match. There were just so many similarities. It's just all full circle." – Serena Williams, in an ESPN interview, on what winning her 23rd major means to her
