Serena Williams wins Wimbledon: What's next?
Serena Williams is the 2015 Wimbledon champion, and now owns 21 Grand Slams, and six Wimbledon titles.
Jonathan Brady/AP
Serena Williams defeated Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 at the All England Club on Saturday; with her 21st Grand Slam in the books she is one behind tennis great Steffi Graf for most career singles wins in Grand Slam tournaments.
It is Ms. Williams sixth Wimbledon title, and concludes what many are calling a ‘Serena Slam,’ with victories at all four majors in a non-calendar year with wins at the 2014 U.S. Open, 2015 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, and now Wimbledon.
Her dominance throughout Wimbledon, and her 28-match winning streak at the majors, have many believing she's the player to beat at the US Open in September, the final major tournament of the year.
And it appears she has her sights on it.
"I did the whole presentation, I did the whole walk around the court," said Williams, in a press conference after the Saturday's Wimbledon victory. "I was peaceful, feeling really good. Maybe a little after that I started thinking about New York."
Her coach has already started rallying fans for that potentially historic tournament.
"I think if the crowd helps her, it's going to be a plus," her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou said, according to CNN. "So of course I expect the American crowd to be the best ever for her because to have an American player like her who is probably the greatest (in) history writing history at the U.S. Open is huge, and I hope the American crowd will be so proud of that that they will help her."
If she wins at the US Open, Williams will tie Ms. Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles, which she set in 1996.
Graf would still have a better career record, 900-115 to Williams’ 723-121. She also logged more consecutive weeks as the No. 1 ranked player, with a world record for both men and women of 377 weeks, set the same year she broke the Grand Slam record, according to Sports Illustrated.
"I think she has all the chances to do it," Graf said in a recent interview with ESPN. "Unless physically there would be an issue, I think she will."
Graf called Williams' longevity "just an incredible achievement."
"It's physically and emotionally such a difficult sport," Graf said. "They've done much better in scheduling now so at least you have a few months off. When we played, it was 12 months a year. You started the year at Australia at the end of December and you ended it at the beginning of December in New York, so at least now, they get a little bit of a break. But it's still a very demanding sport."
And how is Williams staying strong these days?
"Right now I'm dancing a lot," she said after Wimbledon.