Why Serena Williams’ Dominance Against Top Foes Hurts Her Legacy

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 31, 2015

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Serena Williams moved a round closer to winning a 20th Grand Slam title, but took a step back in cementing her legacy. 

Apparently, Williams is so dominant that some members of the media have begun labeling her era as "weak."

Williams, down 3-6, 2-4, won the last four games in the final two sets to defeat Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round of the 2015 French Open. She is 9-0 against Azarenka in Grand Slams. She next faces Sloane Stephens, a woman who has beaten her once, at the 2013 Australian Open.

Williams has now won 50 matches at each Grand Slam. She's the first woman to win 50 or more matches at all four slams. No matter what happens in the second week at Roland Garros, Williams will retain her No. 1 ranking for a 118th consecutive week, already third-best all-time. 

As she edges closer to her 34th birthday, Williams extends her record as the oldest woman to hold the No. 1 ranking, a milestone she reached at age 31. She's topped $67 million in prize money, the most earned by any woman in the history of sports. Last year, the New Yorker declared her America's greatest athlete.

Still, with each milestone Williams surpasses comes a new set of criteria. Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova's 18 Slams once served as the benchmark for greatness. Six years ago, those records appeared out of Williams' reach. Steffi Graf's 22 seemed impossible.

Now that Williams has 19 Slams and 22 within reach, some in the media have placed a roadblock in the path toward greatest of all time: the era in which she plays.



Simon Veness, of Skysports, believes Williams can "never be the greatest," based on the "lack of competition" in her era. He even used the ease in which she reached the 2013 French Open final to make his argument. (Maybe Veness was asleep when Williams had to come from behind against 2009 French Open champion Svetla...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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