Serena Williams At 40: The Greatest Active 40+ Athlete?
23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams turns 40 years old today. Since the introduction of the Open Era in 1968 no tennis player has won more Grand Slam Singles titles than Williams and she trails only Margaret Court with 24 in the history of the sport. Serena also holds the most total Grand Slam titles of any active player if you include her Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles major trophies, with 39. As we covered in our recent article discussing teenager major winners in the Open Era, Serena won her first Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old at the 1999 US Open by defeating 19-year-old Martina Hingis in a real statement of intent that saw the American begin to replace the Swiss as the wunderkind of tennis.
Alongside her venerated sister Venus, the Williams sisters dominated the best part of two decades in the women’s game, winning 30 out of 70 (43%) of the available Women’s Singles titles between the 1999 US Open and Serena’s most recent major at the 2017 Australian Open. Together they claimed a further 14 Grand Slam Women’s Doubles titles and her partnership with Venus allowed her to become the only player ever to accomplish a career Golden Slam in both Singles and Doubles, with a joint-record four Gold Medals across three Olympic Games.
The American has suffered a few frustrating injuries this season, including a freak one in the first round of Wimbledon back in July, but she is yet to indicate any significant signs of hanging up her rackets. There is nothing left for her to achieve in the game other than that elusive, all-time record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title and as long as she can stay fit she will always have an opportunity to do so, especially at the incoming 2022 Australian Open at the beginning of the season where she should be at her freshest. Williams has won an Open Era record seven Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and she is also the joint Open Era record-holder at the US Open with six alongside Chris Evert. Her 2017 Australian Open victory will go down in history after she revealed that she was four months pregnant in Melbourne and since the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia she has become one of only a handful of women to win a WTA tour title as a mother.
It is likely that Williams will continue to pursue that 24th Grand Slam title until her body refuse to fight any longer. A reduced tournament schedule is the necessary compromise that has seen her ranking diminish over the last few seasons but her power and technical ability on the court has barely faded. Serena has been unlucky this season but since her Australian Open title in 2017 and subsequently becoming a mother she has finished runner-up at four Grand Slam finals, two at Wimbledon and a further two at the US Open in 2018 and 2019. Those five Grand Slam appearances since the Australian Open in 2017 is more than any other woman, with Naomi Osaka behind her on four finals reached. Her last major title made her the oldest female Grand Slam champion in the Open Era.
The pandemic has come at an awful time for Serena’s quest to top all lists but the possibility of full stadiums in 2022, with global fans who desperately want the same for a true modern legend, could see her finally achieve that final goal. In doing so it would be hard to argue against her status as not only the greatest active player at 40 years of age or older but simply the greatest tennis player of all time.
Who else can lay claim to this accolade?
ROGER FEDERER
Roger Federer turned 40 years old back in August but he has not played tennis since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. The Swiss has won a men’s record eight Wimbledon titles to make up the bulk of his men’s record-equalling 20 Grand Slam titles overall alongside Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Like Serena Williams, Federer’s status has surpassed the sport as a global icon in a way very few athletes achieve in history and he too dominated the 2000s alongside the Williams sisters. Federer owns the record for consecutive weeks at number one (237), although current world number one Novak Djokovic is chasing that and a few other records down with gusto. There are countless other achievements in the Swiss’ locker but winning 103 career ATP titles, second only behind Jimmy Connors, and a record six ATP Finals are some of the standouts. He is the third-oldest male to win a title in the Open Era at 38 years an two months during the 2019 Basel Open and his epic, five-hour final at Wimbledon that year saw several match points saved by Novak Djokovic.
It is a pleasing fact that Federer won the Men’s Singles title at the 2017 Australian Open alongside Serena Williams as a touching hark back to the previous decade of their dominance. However, whilst Federer’s body appears to finally be giving up on him, with several knee surgeries ending his 2021 season, there is still a distinct chance of more for Williams.
TOM BRADY
44-year-old Tom Brady is almost certainly the leading challenger in this list after winning a record-extending seventh Super Bowl (LV) back in February of this year. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback proved a lot of doubters wrong with his successful move to Florida to win in his first season as a starter for the second time after his first of six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. Brady’s many records include winning 17 division titles with the Patriots, including 11 consecutive between 2009 and 2019, and 13 AFC championship games with eight consecutive between 2011 and 2018. He has also played in the most finals with nine Super Bowl appearances and his now six rings is also an all-time record.
One of the most famous athletes on the planet, Brady is the oldest player to be named Super Bowl MVP and win a Super Bowl as the starting quarterback and he also made NFL MVP at 40 years old to become the oldest player to do so. That unmatched longevity has shown little sign of slowing down after Brady became the first player to win a Super Bowl in three separate decades earlier this year. The Bucs are 2-0 at the time of writing and one of the pre-season favourites to go again having retained their entire Super Bowl-winning squad.
TIGER WOODS
Arguably the most famous golfer in the history of the game, and one of the most famous ever athletes, Tiger Woods provided proof that he is not done yet with the game after an emotional Masters win in 2019. The 45-year-old had not won a major for 11 years before his magical weekend at Augusta completely rewrote what was possible and he now owns 15 major titles, second only behind Jack Nicklaus. Like Federer and Williams, Woods’ totally dominated his sport in the first decade of the new millennium where he acquired the vast majority of his titles and record weeks at number one that currently stands at 683. Woods is one of only five players to achieve the Career Grand Slam, the youngest to do so, and the second to achieve that feat three times again behind Nicklaus.
Infamous personal issues and a series of back injuries that led to four surgeries wiped out much of the 2010s, with the potential there for an insurmountable set of records. Woods is currently tied with Sam Snead on 82 PGA Tour wins, which his hopeful return to golf could be largely focused on beating following his one-vehicle car crash in February of this year.
