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The Greatness Of Serena Williams: 'Female' Has Nothing To Do With It

This article is more than 8 years old.

This is not an article about female athletes.

I will not discuss the contributions that Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Mia Hamm made to the world of sports, and I won’t project any modern-day “Battle of the Sexes” scenarios. If you’re looking for words like “progress” or “trailblazer,” you won’t find them here.

This is an article about one of the most dominant athletes the world has ever seen.

For the past 20 years, we’ve witnessed an athlete become a champion and then witnessed that champion become a legend.

And yes. This athlete is a woman.

Serena Williams is what happens when a gladiator’s body and a warrior’s mind meet a surgeon’s precision and a ballerina’s poise. She possesses all of the ingredients necessary to achieve the ultimate dream of any athlete:

Greatness.

No two athletes take the same path to greatness, and analysts, writers, players and fans have a tremendously hard time agreeing upon a concrete definition of the word itself. But we do know that, in order to be considered truly great, an athlete must…

  1. Define an era, either through an extended reign as the best in one’s sport or through historical impact on the sport itself. Greats almost always have a period of time during which they are at least thought to be untouchable.
  2. Transcend beyond the world of sports. Even non-sports fans recognize the true greats as greats.
  3. Win championships. The more championships you’ve won, the stronger your case.
  4. Know when to walk away. Too many potential greats ruin their chances by continuing to play well past their primes. Quality over quantity.  

So long as she doesn’t brutally butcher number 4, I’d argue that any list of all-time great individual athletes that fails to include Serena Williams is incomplete and inaccurate.

So where should she rank? Based on the criteria above, I’ve assembled my own list.

Note: Athletes must primarily participate in an individual sport, so no. Michael Jordan is not on this list.

1. Michael Phelps

Age: 30

Individual Titles: 61

Olympic Medals: 18 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze

World Records: 29 individual (39 total)

2. Tiger Woods

Age: 39

Professional Wins: 106

PGA: 79 (2nd all time)

European Tour: 40 (3rd all time)

Career Earnings: $109,931,412

3. Roger Federer

Age: 34

Individual Titles: 85 (3rd in Open Era)

Career Prize Money: $90,506,319

Singles W-L: 1025-233

Olympic Medals: 1 gold, 1 silver

4. Serena Williams

Age: 33

Career Prize Money: $72,679,094

Individual Titles: 68 WTA (4th all time)

Singles W-L: 724-121

Olympic Medals: 4 gold

5. Usain Bolt:

Age: 28

World Records: 3

Olympic Medals: 6 gold

World Championship Medals: 8 gold, 2 silver

Serena Williams’ accomplishments speak for themselves. “Female” qualifiers are irrelevant.

She’s an all-time great.

“Female” has nothing to do with it.