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Serena Williams: The tennis legend’s career by the numbers

(Martin Bernetti/AFP via GettyImages)

As Serena Williams hangs up her racket following her exit from the US Open, she closes the book on one of the greatest careers not just in tennis but in sports.

The 40-year-old announced her retirement plans in early August via a Vogue cover story, a bold move befitting the groundbreaking, statement-making superstar. She inspired a new generation of athletes by being the best while being unapologetically herself, using her platform as a tennis champion to push the boundaries of sports and culture.

“Sometimes being a woman, a Black woman in the world, you kind of settle for less,” said rising American star Coco Gauff. “I feel like Serena taught me that, from watching her. She never settled for less.”

After Williams’ final Grand Slam, Just Women’s Sports takes a look back at Williams’ journey through the numbers.

4

Not only has Williams dominated the WTA, she’s dominated the Olympics as well, winning four gold medals in her career — one in singles and three in women’s doubles.

6

Williams played in this year’s US Open as a six-time singles champion, tying her with Chris Evert for the most in the Open era. The US Open is also the site of her first-ever Grand Slam back in 1999. She won it for the second time in 2002, after winning the French Open and Wimbledon that same year.

“I started playing tennis with the goal of winning the US Open,” said Williams in Vogue. “I didn’t think past that. And then I just kept winning.”

7

The Australian Open has been kind to Williams, with the future Hall of Famer winning the major singles title seven times, the most all-time for a women’s player.

10

Since turning 30, Williams has won 10 of her 23 individual Grand Slams, a record in women’s tennis.

After winning her 17th overall major title at the 2013 US Open, she shut down questions about age as an obstacle to success.

“I don’t think about it. I always said, age for me, I feel great. I’ve never felt better,” she said.

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Serena Williams won her first US Open as a 17-year-old in 1999. (Jamie Squire/Allsport)

14

A total of 14 years, 10 months and six days passed between the time when Williams first acquired the No. 1 ranking on July 8, 2002, and the last time she held the No. 1 ranking on May 14, 2017. That’s the longest any women’s player has gone between their first and last No. 1 rankings.

23

With 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams sits just one behind Margaret Court for the most all-time. Williams, however, does hold the record for the most titles in the Open era.

“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, which she achieved before the ‘Open era’ that began in 1968. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record. Obviously I do,” Williams told Vogue. “But day to day, I’m really not thinking about her. If I’m in a Grand Slam final, then yes, I am thinking about that record. Maybe I thought about it too much, and that didn’t help.

“The way I see it, I should have had 30-plus Grand Slams. I had my chances after coming back from giving birth. I went from a C-section to a second pulmonary embolism to a Grand Slam final. I played while breastfeeding. I played through postpartum depression. But I didn’t get there. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I didn’t show up the way I should have or could have. But I showed up 23 times, and that’s fine. Actually it’s extraordinary.”

39

On top of her 23 major singles titles, Williams also won 14 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles and two in mixed doubles. All of her doubles titles have come alongside sister Venus. The two teamed up again at this year’s US Open, falling in the first round to Linda Nosková and Lucie Hradecká.

That mark gives her the most combined major titles among active players.

73

The tennis great has won 73 total singles titles.

94

Williams has racked up $94.6 million in prize money. That stands as the most of any women’s tennis player, per the WTA. In second is sister Venus Williams, who has earned a total of $42.3 million in prize money.

“Venus and I started out being successful, continued to be successful, and we were also unapologetically ourselves,” Williams told Allure in 2019. “We were not afraid to wear braids. We weren’t afraid to be Black in tennis. And that was different.”

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Williams captured fans everywhere with her run to the third round of the 2022 US Open. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

319

In total, Williams spent 319 weeks atop the world rankings, ranking third all-time behind Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf.

858

Throughout her career, Williams held a singles record of 858-156. Her 367 total wins in Grand Slams sits second all-time behind Roger Federer.

1,014

Williams played 1,015 matches on the WTA Tour. During her career, she has faced opponents born in every year from 1966 to 2003, and two-thirds of her matches came against players younger than she was.

Yet more than her staggering success, Williams leaves behind a legacy of changing the game for women.

“The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another,” she said. “We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: Be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.”

Wisconsin Volleyball Attendance Soars as NCAA Sees Growing Demand

Wisconsin volleyball players leap to block a kill from rival Nebraska during a 2024 NCAA match.
Wisconsin currently has the highest NCAA volleyball attendance in the country. (Michael Gomez/Getty Images)

Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.

Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.

If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.

Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.

The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.

"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."

Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.

Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.

"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.

How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action

With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.

Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.

Liverpool Score Emotional League Cup Win in Tribute to Late Manager Matt Beard

Liverpool players stand and observe a minute of silence in remembrance of former manager Matt Beard before a 2025 League Cup match.
Liverpool earned an emotional League Cup win shortly after the sudden passing of former manager Matt Beard. (Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

WSL side Liverpool opened their 2025/26 League Cup campaign with an emotional 5-0 win over WSL2 club Sunderland on Wednesday, dedicating the shutout victory to former manager Matt Beard after the 47-year-old's sudden passing last Saturday.

The match marked the Reds' return to the pitch following the postponement of their Sunday regular-season game against Aston Villa due to Beard's passing.

"It's a good win for Matt. We played with a lot of emotion," Liverpool defender Jenna Clark said afterwards, calling Wednesday "a really emotional night and an emotional few days for everyone involved with the club."

"We have pulled through together as a team the best we could and you saw that on the pitch tonight," Clark added.

Beard won back-to-back WSL titles with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014, departing the Reds in 2015 for a two-year stint with the NWSL's Boston Breakers.

He made his return to Liverpool in 2021, lifting the club back into the top-flight WSL by earning promotion his first season back at the helm.

"Matt will leave a huge void in the women's game," USWNT head coach and former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said in a statement earlier this week. "He was one of a kind, and his loss will be felt by all. My heart goes out to his family, but I want to take the time to acknowledge what a special man he really was."​

How to watch Liverpool this weekend

Liverpool will continue their 2025/26 WSL campaign against Manchester United this Sunday, kicking off live at 7 AM ET on ESPN+.

No. 1 England Battles No. 2 Canada in 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup Final

England players sing their national anthem before kicking off the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Host nation England will play for their first Women's Rugby World Cup title in more than a decade on Saturday. (David Rogers/Getty Images)

The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup culminates on Saturday, when host nation England battles for their first tournament title in more than a decade in a top-tier final against Canada, who are hunting their first-ever world championship trophy.

The Red Roses' long dominance on the Rugby World Cup pitch has led them to eight finals in the competition's nine editions, with England emerging victorious twice — in 1994 and 2014.

On the other hand, Canada will make just their second-ever appearance in the World Cup final this Saturday, as the Maple Leafs aim for a decidedly different outcome from their 21-9 loss to England in the 2014 championship game.

The top-ranked Red Roses will also be looking to avenge their narrow 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the tournament's most recent 2022 edition when they square off against No. 2 Canada in front of an sold-out crowd inside London's Twickenham Stadium — with another women's rugby attendance record on the line.

"You feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be," England defense coach Sarah Hunter said. "It's a cliché, but [the crowd] almost becomes the 16th person in those moments where you need them."

How to watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final

England and Canada will battle in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at 11 AM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on Paramount+.

No. 2 Washington Spirit Fights to Stay Atop the NWSL Table on 9-Game Unbeaten Streak

Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman sprints up the pitch during a 2025 NWSL match.
Trinity Rodman and the No. 2 Washington Spirit will look to extend their six-point lead over No. 3 Gotham in the NWSL standings this weekend. (Jamie Sabau/NWSL via Getty Images)

While the No. 1 Kansas City Current have officially run away with the 2025 NWSL Shield, the race for top playoff seeding rages on, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit fights to hold their ground against an unpredictable No. 9 Houston Dash this Sunday.

Bolstered by star Trinity Rodman's return from injury, the Spirit enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak, going up against a motivated Dash side sitting just two points outside of postseason contention.

"Every game we just need to be a lot more clinical in the final third," Rodman said after last weekend's 2-2 draw with No. 11 Angel City. "We're doing all the hard stuff and then it's [lacking] quality at the end."

Washington isn't without top-table challengers, with No. 3 Gotham FC riding their own five-game unbeaten streak into a Friday night match against the No. 4 Portland Thorns, who sit tied for points with both the Bats and the No. 5 San Diego Wave in the NWSL standings.

"At this stage, almost everyone still has a real chance to make the playoffs, which is great for the league," said Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós after the Bats' 1-1 draw with Bay FC last Sunday. "But it also means nothing can be taken for granted."

How to watch the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC this weekend

No. 3 Gotham FC kicks off this weekend's NWSL action when they host the No. 4 Portland Thorns at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on NWSL+.

Then in Sunday's NWSL action, the No. 9 Houston Dash will visit the No. 2 Washington Spirit at 1 PM ET, airing live on Paramount+.

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