The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Serena eyes major title No. 23
No. 1 ranking also at stake as Williams tries to top Graf’s total.
Despite everything that Serena Williams has won and done, her sense of self can still fluctuate based on the outcome of a particular match.
It doesn’t always seem to matter that she owns a record-tying 22 major singles titles heading into the U.S. Open, which begins Monday with a retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time.
It's not necessarily a big deal to her that she’s spent the past 3½ years entrenched at No. 1 and is the oldest woman ever to top the WTA rankings.
And there are times when the 34-year-old American basically forgets that she transcends her sport and has become a cultural icon away from the tennis court.
Williams is devastated when she loses, such as last year’s “Did that really happen?” loss to Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals, ending her bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam by anyone in more than a quarter-century. Williams acknowledges she measures herself constantly.
“Unfortunately, I definitely do, which I don’t think is normal. I definitely feel like when I lose, I don’t feel as good about myself,” she said.
“But then I have to, like, remind myself that: ‘You are Serena Williams!’ You know? Like, ‘Are you kidding me?’
“And it’s those moments that I have to just, like, come off and be like, ‘Serena, do you know what you’ve done? Who you are? What you continue to do, not only in tennis, off the court? Like, you’re awesome.’ That really just shows the human side of me. I’m not a robot.”
Williams is at the stage where history is in the offing nearly every time a racket is in her right hand. So while the stakes are different from what they were in 2015 in New York, Williams does have something significant to play for again.
After equaling Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam titles in the professional era (which dates to 1968) by winning Wimbledon, Williams can earn No. 23 in New York. Only Margaret Court owns more major singles trophies (24), but more than half of that total came against amateur competition.
Not that Williams was ready to think about topping Graf after pulling even with her at the All England Club.
“One thing I learned about last year is to enjoy the moment,” Williams said. “I’m definitely going to enjoy this.”
Good thing, too, because not everything has gone smoothly since that triumph. Slowed by a bothersome right shoulder, Williams lost in the third round of singles and first round of doubles at the Rio Olympics and then pulled out of a hardcourt tuneup event in Ohio.
Williams is assured of remaining at No. 1 until the end of the U.S. Open, which will bring her current streak to 186 weeks in a row, tying another mark held by Graf. Depending on what happens in the tournament, Williams could be overtaken by No. 2 Angelique Kerber (who beat Williams in the Australian Open final in January), No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza (who beat Williams in the French Open final in June) or No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska.
“It’s definitely intriguing,” Roger Federer said about tracking the women vying for No. 1. “It’s nice to see this race.”
Federer, who has won five of his men’s record 17 Grand Slam titles in New York, will sit out the U.S. Open for the first time since 1999 as he takes the rest of the season off to let his left knee heal.