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GOAT: Serena Williams wins her 23rd Grand Slam title, just one behind Margaret Court

Sahil Bhalla | Updated on: 11 February 2017, 5:45 IST

American Serena Williams is the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). There is no disputing that. Today, she defeated her sister Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in just 82 minutes at Rod Laver Arena to win her 7th Australian Open Grand Slam singles title and her 23rd Grand Slam - just one behind Margaret Court - title.

On her way to winning the Australian Open title, Serena did what no sportswoman has since 2008. She won the tournament without even dropping a set. With the win, Serena reclaims the No 1 ranking. Venus too climbs to number 11.

Venus was eight years removed from her last appearance in a Grand Slam final. At that time, she was battling Sjögren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease that causes joint pain and fatigue. Venus Williams is 36, Serena, 35. With age not on their side, it's only a short period of time before both of them retire from the singles game. While Venus' days are certainly behind her, Serena is still peaking.

Here's a look at Serena's career:

14

Grand Slam doubles titles

  • 4 Australian Open - 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010

  • 2 French Open - 1999, 2010

  • 6 Wimbledon - 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016

  • 2 US Open - 1999, 2009

  • Serena along with partner Venus are undefeated in Grand Slam doubles finals

6

other trophies

  • 1 Wimbledon (mixed doubles) - 1998

  • 1 US Open (mixed doubles) - 1998

  • 1 Olympic Gold (singles) - 2012

  • 3 Olympic Gold (doubles) - 2000, 2008, 2012

310

weeks

  • Serena Williams will enter her 311th week as the number one women's singles tennis player following her Australian Open triumph.

  • Williams is just 22 weeks behind Martina Navratilova.

  • Steffi Graf holds the record with an incredible 377 weeks as the world's number one player.

  • Serena tied Graf for the record of most consecutive weeks, 186 weeks, as world number one

72

titles

  • Serena Williams has won 72 WTA titles in her career

  • 23 Grand Slams, 23 WTA Premier Mandatory, 19 WTA Tour, 5 WTA Tour Championships, 1 Grand Slam Cup, 1 Olympic Gold

  • This puts Serena Williams at number 8 on the all-time list

  • Margaret Court is by far the leader with 192 titles

  • Following Court is Martina Navratilova with 167.

  • Ater that is Chris Evert (157), Billie Jean King (129), Steffi Graf (107), Evonne Goolagong (86) and Suzanne Lenglen (81)

315

Grand Slam matches won

  • Serena Williams has won a whopping 315 matches at Grand Slams

  • She broke Martina Navratilova's record of 306 at the 2016 U.S. Open

  • Chris Evert (305), Steffi Graf (280) and sister Venus (248) round out the top-five

1995

  • Serena Williams made her pro debut in 1995 and didn't return to the Tour until two years later in 1997
  • Braveheart won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1996
  • Windows 95 was released by Microsoft
  • Ebay started the online and shopping website
  • Rock band Grateful Dead announced their breakup

First published: 28 January 2017, 7:09 IST