Serena Williams hails Tiger Woods’ influence as she continues her US Open run
Serena Williams was not exactly a fan of the game when she was an Olympic gold medalist. She was not exactly a fan of sports when she won her first major — Wimbledon.
And certainly not this year.
She may have been the best ranked woman in women’s tennis to ever step onto a court. Her ranking of No. 1 — as she is now — at the start of the year was the best-ever at the start of the year, with the last No. 1 to win a Grand Slam going back to 1989.
But here she is, the world champion, with one eye on her next Grand Slam match and three weeks to go, and she has yet to win the hard-court event she won at Wimbledon.
“I have a long way to go — I love to win,” said Serena, who took the lead in Tuesday’s $1.1 million tournament and, if she can close out the tournament on Monday, would get her first major since the French Open in May.
“I have a lot of things I want to accomplish just as a person in my career.”
Still, she is enjoying herself this year. Williams, in the midst of her best season since winning the Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Games, has won six of her eight tournaments this year. She is at 17 straight Grand Slam tournaments, tying for the most of any player in history. She is also No. 1 in the world, having been No. 1 in the women’s rankings for eight weeks in a row.
Williams, an American who plays for the sister of former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush as part of the Williams family, is also one of the greatest players to win, and win big, in the history of women’s tennis.
She won Wimbledon in 2001, making her the first woman to win four Wimbledon titles. She also took the U.S. Open in 2002, 2004 and 2006, making her the first woman to win all four Grand Slam titles. She has also won the Australian Open in 2001, won the French Open in 2001 and 2004 and won last year’s US Open. Her last major loss