Serena Williams has done it all in tennis, but there’s so much more to come.
In the wake of the U.S. Open final, which ended a three-year drought of losing, she was asked to predict the year’s biggest tournament.
Williams chose to go with a major, rather than the Grand Slam.
“I’ve never really been a Grand Slam person. I like to play a couple times in a Slam, but I don’t want it to be my Grand Slam,” she said. “I like just being able to come home from a tough Slam and just have a rest week instead of just being exhausted at the next one.”
A year ago, Williams, the world’s best female tennis player, lost in the U.S. Open final in straight sets to sister-in-law and Wimbledon finalist Simona Halep. Her season had been derailed by a viral meningitis infection that cost her more than 20 Grand Slams and two years off the tour.
But she has bounced back dramatically since then. In her comeback, she beat the sister of Novak Djokovic, then took her record into the French Open. Only hours after beating her sister in Paris, she became the first woman to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles.
In 2017, she beat Serena and Venus Williams to win the U.S. Open for a fourth time. After losing to Johanna Konta the previous year, Williams beat her again to win her 10th major title. She played Venus Williams in the final for the second time in her career. The second title of the year came last week in Rome, her hometown.
“It does feel like it was just yesterday I was writing my name on the line in the Wimbledon finals, which was also my last match,” Williams said of winning her 10th major. “It is like that every time, but it is special, because it feels like I have lived through the journey a second time.”
