World number one Serena Williams won her 17th Grand Slam singles title on Sunday at the US Open Tennis Championships, defeating Victoria Azarenka in a three-set blockbuster final. With the win, Williams is now tied with Roger Federer with the most number of Grand Slam singles titles, an honor that she’s proud to be part of.
“It’s an honor to be even with Roger. He’s been such a great champion throughout the years, and he’s just an unbelievable competitor and he’s still playing still, and he can probably still win more. So it feels really good to be, you know, in that same league as him. He’s just been so incredibly consistent, so we have had really different careers. Then to be compared with Crissy and Martina, not yet, because I’m still not quite there yet. I can’t necessarily compare myself to them, because, you know, numbers wise they’re still greater. No, I didn’t think about changing. Not at all.”
The American has stated in previous interviews that despite her number of titles this year, she still feels “disappointed” with how her season went, having won the French Open only prior to the US Open. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and fourth round at Wimbledon.
“I felt almost disappointed with my year, to be honest. I felt like, yeah, I won the French Open, but I wasn’t happy with my performances in the other two slams, and, you know, not even making it to the quarterfinals of one. So I definitely feel a lot better with at least a second Grand Slam under my belt this year.”
