Serena wins sixth Wimbledon, 21st Grand Slam

Serena Williams made Wimbledon history as the world number one became the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Garbine Muguruza in Saturday’s final.

Williams was never at her overpowering best, but she recovered from a slow start to see off the Spanish 20th seed in an 82-minute Centre court triumph that will be remembered more for its historic implications than the quality of the champion’s performance. At 33 years and 289 days, Serena surpasses Martina Navratilova as the oldest player to win Wimbledon, and any of the other three Grand Slams, in the Open era.

Serena’s sixth Wimbledon crown brought with it a slew of other remarkable landmarks that underline her credentials as one of the greatest female athletes of all time. The American’s 21st Grand Slam crown and 68th tour-level title earned her a cheque for £1.8 million (US$2.7 million, 2.5 million euros)

But it is her legacy rather than her bank balance that concerns Williams these days and she now holds all four Grand Slam titles at the same time – the rare ‘Serena Slam’ she last achieved in 2002-03. Serena is the first woman to land the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since she last won that difficult double in 2002.

Lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time since 2012 also leaves Serena needing only to defend the US Open to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to claim a calendar Grand Slam. She is just one major title behind Graf on the Open era leaderboard and within three of all-time record holder Margaret Court’s tally of 24.

Williams can also match Graf’s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. A seventh title would break a tie with Chris Evert for most U.S. Open wins. She is the first player since Graf in 1988 to win Wimbledon and the Australian and French Opens in the same year.

Given Serena’s 39-1 record in 2015 and her astonishing streak of 28 consecutive Grand Slam match victories, few would bet against the American making more history in New York in August.

John McEnroe, a three-time Wimbledon champion said after Serena’s victory that the American will get to 25 Grand Slams and some annoying person somewhere will come up with another achievement that she hasn’t done and she will figure out another way to motivate herself to keep going.

It comes down to health at the end of the day. If you are still playing well, arguably better, it is pretty hard to stop. If she is able to handle nerves, she will be able to go as long as she wants to.