American tennis legend Serena Williams broke a three-year dry spell with a win at the Auckland Classic on Sunday. It was the athlete's first title win since becoming a mother.
Tennis star Serena Williams won the World Tennis Association (WTA) Auckland Classic final on Sunday, her first title in three years. The American athlete donated her prize winnings to victims of the Australian bushfires.
Williams, 38, beat fellow American Jessica Pegula, 25, with a 6-3 6-4 victory. The win was Williams' 73rd WTA title and her first since she became a mother.
"I've been playing in Australia for over 20 years and it's been really hard for me to watch all the news and everything that has been happening in Australia with all the fire and... animals and people that have lost their homes," she said when presented with Sunday's winnings.
"I decided at the beginning of the tournament... I'd donate all my prize money for a great cause," she added.
The victory raises expectations that Williams could win at the Australian Open later this month. It would be Williams' 24th Grand Slam title, which would tie her with record holder Margaret Court.
Serena Williams: Chasing No.24
Serena Williams will have another shot at securing her 24th Grand Slam title and equalling the Open Era record held by Margaret Court in Saturday's US Open final. Here's a look back at an extraordinary career.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Grant
Sister Act
Serena and Venus burst onto the scene in 1997, with Serena making her mark on the Grand Slams slightly later than her older sister. The pair have met 30 times in professional matches, with Serena winning 18 of those contests. That includes nine Grand Slam finals, of which Serena has won seven. The sisters have also enjoyed success as doubles partners, winning 14 women's doubles titles.
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Early success
Like her older sister, Serena Williams experienced early success on the court — and her very first Grand Slam title was at the US Open in 1999. Serena was just 17 when she beat world number one Martina Hingis in straight sets, and in doing so, became the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era.
Image: Getty Images/Allsport/J. Squire
Giants collide
Serena Williams' career was just getting started as the career of another legend was drawing to a close. Germany's Steffi Graf had won 21 of her 22 career Grand Slams when she met Williams in the final of the Evert Cup in Indian Wells in March 1999, and it was a sign of a changing of the guard at the top of the women's game with the American winning a closely fought match 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Nelson
An Olympian too
It's not just Grand Slams and the WTA Tour where Serena Williams reigns supreme. Her dominance of the game for two decades extends to the Olympics too, and she has collected gold medals at three different Games: Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012, where she is pictured here. But it's only in London, on her favorite surface of grass, that she scooped the top prize in singles.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Acosta
Bust-ups
Williams has also had controversy in her career. In this altercation at the 2009 US Open semifinal against Kim Clijsters, Williams lost her cool with a line judge following a foot fault call. She was fined a record $82,500 for her tirade and was warned that she faced suspension from the event and a significantly greater fine should she commit another "major offense" in the following two years.
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Second home
Williams has saved her best performances for Wimbledon, where she has won seven Grand Slam singles titles and seven doubles titles. Like her sister, who has won five singles titles at the All England Club, Serena adores the grass. The surface allows her strongest assets — her speed and power — to shine through.
Image: Getty Images/J. Finney
Big in Hollywood
Williams is not just a tennis superstar. The combination of her status as one of the greatest tennis players of all time and her desire to rub shoulders with fellow celebrities has seen her transcend sports. Here she can be seen alongside her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, at the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/O. Humphreys
Style icon
Williams has made no secret of her love of designer clothes and expresses herself through what she wears on and off the court. Here she can be seen arriving at a high-profile fashion event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in May 2019, but she has also made the headlines with her tennis outfits, for example the eye-catching black 'catsuit' worn at the French Open in 2018.
