Calling Serena Williams the GOAT of women’s tennis is a no-brainer but in a generation that included the Big-3 men’s players, is she in the running to be considered the sport’s ultimate GOAT?
With her glittering career drawing to a close at the 2022 US Open it is only appropriate to look back and see how the legacy she leaves behind stacks up against her male counterparts, who have all dominated the world of tennis at some point during their careers.
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PEERLESS
The comparison to Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is not an arbitrary one because comparing her to her female counterparts would be a pointless exercise given her record against anyone else she shared the court with.
During Serena’s career only three other WTA players won more than four Grand Slam titles. Sister Venus won seven, along with Justine Henin while Maria Sharapova claimed five in her time.
Serena was the first of the quartet to taste Grand Slam glory with her US Open triumph in 1999 and by the time Henin and Venus had claimed the last of their titles in 2007, Serena already had eight and Sharapova amassed two. That total of eight included an incredible run, dubbed the ‘Serena Slam’, from Roland Garros in 2002 to the Australian Open in 2003 where the American won all four of the Grand Slam titles.
From 2008 Serena went on to claim another 15 Grand Slam titles while Sharapova only managed three more, which made the ‘rivalry’ that was so widely spoken about hard to fathom.
Of the modern crop of players, Naomi Osaka leads the charge with four Grand Slam titles ahead of Angelique Kerber and Ash Barty on three. Bianca Andreescu, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza will always have the feather in their cap of beating Serena in Grand Slam finals but only Kerber and Venus have the honour of accomplishing that feat twice.
When compared side-by-side, there isn’t a single woman from 1999 to 2022, whose record comes even close to that of Serena’s.
COMPARING APPLES WITH ORANGES
Contrasting Serena’s accomplishments to that of the Big-3 men’s players isn’t exactly a like-for-like comparison but in an era when four players have amassed over 20+ Grand Slam titles, it is worth having a look to see (even if just on paper) how they stack up against each other.
In the Beginning
The first time Serena shared title celebrations with either of the Big-3 was at Wimbledon in 2003 when Roger Federer broke his Grand Slam duck, coincidentally Rafael Nadal made his Grand Slam debut in that very tournament. Serena began her Grand Slam journey in 1998 and lifted her first title in just her seventh appearance. For Roger though, success was not as instant as he only broke through in his fifth year of Grand Slam tennis and by that time Serena had already won six Grand Slam titles, which included her ‘Serena Slam’.
Obviously Rafa and Novak joined the fray a little later, 2003 and 2005 to be exact, and while their starts weren’t as electric as Serena’s they did strike gold quicker than Roger. Rafa began his road to becoming the ‘King of Clay’ by winning the first of his 14 Roland Garros titles on debut in 2005, which was his third year of Grand Slam tennis. Novak was equally rapid off the mark, making two semifinals and one final in just his third year of Grand Slam tennis, picking up his first title one year later at the 2008 Australian Open.
Streakers
Of the four Nadal holds the longest streak of consecutive years with a Grand Slam title, winning 14 titles in a 10-year run from 2005 to 2014. As would be expected that run included four consecutive Roland Garros titles (2005-2008) and another five consecutive titles in Paris (2010-2014). It could have easily been a case of 10 consecutive titles from 2005 to 2014 if it were not for the injury that kept him out of the 2009 edition. Rafa’s most successful year was in 2010 where he won three on the trot from Roland Garros to the US Open, which was the only time he won more than two in a 12-month period.
Roger’s streak of two shy of Rafa’s record in those eight years included 16 Grand Slam titles, where he won both Wimbledon and the US Open five times in a row. He also won three titles in a calendar year on three occasions, missing out on completing a Calendar Grand Slam in 2006 and 2007, both at the hands of Rafa at Roland Garros. From Wimbledon 2005 to the US Open 2007 Roger played in every Grand Slam final, losing only the two aforementioned Roland Garros finals to Nadal.
Serena and Novak have very similar five-year streaks with the American winning 10 titles between 2012 and 2017 while the Serb picked up 11 titles between 2011 to 2016. Both of then though have something the other two never achieved in that they held all four Grand Slam title at the same time, though not in a calendar year.
Djokovic missed out on Calendar Slam in 2015, winning three of the titles on offer and losing only the Roland Garros title to Stan Wawrinka. He would make up for that disappointment a year later to complete the ‘Novak Slam’ which ran from Wimbledon 2015 to Roland Garros 2016. Djokovic was denied a Calendar Slam for a second time in 2021, losing out that the US Open do Daniil Medvedev.
Serena’s purple patch included a second ‘Serena Slam’, the first being Roland Garros 2002 to Aus Open 2003, when she picked up all four Grand Slams beginning with the 2014 US Open and ending at Roland Garros 2015.
Consecutive years with a Grand Slam title
Rafael Nadal
2005-2014 (10 Years)
14 titles
Roger Federer
2003-2012 (8 years)
16 titles
Novak Djokovic
2011-2016 (6 years)
11 titles
Serena Williams
2012-2017 (6 years)
10 titles
Despite the stats highlighting the fact that these four are the greatest ever to grace the tennis court and that on paper Serena’s record sits equally among her male counterparts’, I don’t’ believe that they prove either way who is the greatest. At the end of the day every argument for the who is the GOAT has some merit and there is no definitive way to disprove anyone else’s argument. So, at the end of the day we will all just have to agree to disagree.
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME
No matter where you fall on the GOAT debate, I think we can all agree that we have been spoiled to have witnessed the most golden of generations. A generation that should be the envy of any sport, during any time period. We were spoiled for years by four of the greatest ever sport stars of all time and while we are at a stalemate in the debate over who is the best, we will miss them all when they are no longer setting the world alight and breaking records for the fun of it.
I won’t be so brave as to take a stand on the GOAT debate, but I will say this: Thank you Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for showing us what was possible and then going far beyond that mark.
While Novak and Rafa still have some miles to go in their legs, Serena’s road will come to an at the 2022 US Open and who knows whether Roger will be able to put on at least one final show.
For now we can only look forward to the proceedings at Flushing Meadows where we will find out if Serena’s last hurrah is a triumphant one and if Rafa is fit enough to stretch his Grand Slam count to 23.
Roll on the 2022 US Open…
2022 US OPEN BROADCAST DETAILS All times are SA, CAT, GMT+2
Monday, 29 July - Monday, 5 September
5pm-7:30am | SS Tennis and SS Action
Tuesday, 6 September - Friday, 9 September
5pm-7:30am | SS Action
6pm-7:30am | SS Tennis
Saturday, 10 September
Mixed Doubles Final | 6pm-10pm | SS Tennis
Women’s Singles Final | 10pm-2am | SS Tennis
Sunday, 11 September
Women’s Doubles Final | 7pm-10pm | SS Tennis
Men’s Singles Final | 10pm-3am | SS Tennis
* Stream all the action on DStv *