Serena Williams: Tennis Queen of 2014
Three-time Laureus Award winner Serena Williams is undoubtedly one of tennis’ all-time greats. Last weekend, she beat Romania's Simona Halep to win the season-ending WTA Tour Finals for the third year in a row on the event's debut in Singapore. Williams won 6-3 6-0 to claim the WTA title for the fifth time, but also gained revenge for suffering her heaviest defeat in 16 years against Halep in the group stage.
The American ace, who won her 18th Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in September, will end the year as world No.1 for the fourth time.
Williams was Sportswoman of the Year in 2003 and 2010 and won the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award in 2007. And as the 2015 Laureus Awards in Shanghai approach, she has to be a favourite to be nominated for Sportswoman of the Year once again.
Some would argue that, by Williams’s standards, her year was somewhat mixed: She lost before the quarterfinal stage at the first three Grand Slams of the season, before winning in New York in September.
“My highlight for 2014 has to be winning the US Open, winning No.18 was really special” she said after her match. “But to sum up my season in one word? Bizarre!”.
Give Serena’s 2014 season to another player and it would be the epitome of their career. Her successes this year are irrefutable: She won a Grand Slam and the year-end WTA Finals. Her seven tournament wins were the third most she’s ever had in a single season, and she has been No. 1 for 97 consecutive weeks. At 33- years old, Serena Williams is once again the queen of tennis and the future looks indeed very bright.
After Serena’s US Open win, Laureus Academy Member and tennis legend Martina Navratilova told Laureus. com that “it gets more difficult to win the Slams when you get older. Things happen more to your body, but again Serena’s fresh and she’s so physically strong. The sky’s the limit at the moment.”
