Serena Williams Wins 3rd AP Athlete of the Year

25 Dec, 2013

Driven as ever, Williams won plenty this year. She went 78-4 with 11 titles, including at the French Open and U.S. Open, raising her Grand Slam championship total to 17. She compiled a 34-match winning streak. She earned more than $12 million in prize money, a record for women’s tennis. In February, she became the oldest No. 1 in WTA rankings history and never left that perch.

Thanks to all of that, Williams was honored Wednesday as The Associated Press’ 2013 Female Athlete of the Year. It’s the third AP award for Williams, following 2002 and 2009. Only two women have been chosen more often as AP Athlete of the Year since the annual awards were first handed out in 1931.

“Whenever I lose, I get more determined, and it gives me something more to work toward,” Williams told the AP in an interview shortly before the start of the U.S. Open. “I don’t get complacent, and I realize I need to work harder and I need to do better and I want to do better – or I wouldn’t keep playing this game.”

The vote by news organizations was about as lopsided as many of Williams’ matches this season. She received 55 of 96 votes, while Brittney Griner, a two-time AP Player of the Year in college basketball and the No. 1 pick in April’s WNBA draft, finished second with 14. Swimmer Missy Franklin was next with 10.

According to the WTA:

– her .951 winning percentage was the best since Steffi Graf’s .977 in 1989;

– her 11 titles were the most since Martina Hingis’ 12 in 1997;

– her winning streak was the longest since her sister, Venus, had a 35-match run in 2000.

By adding a fifth career U.S. Open championship, and a second French Open title, Williams also moved within one Grand Slam trophy of the 18 apiece won by Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. The record is 24 by Margaret Court.

AP

Mentioned In This Post: