Serena wins 10th title of 2013 in Beijing
Originally published on: 06/10/13 00:00
The world No.1 beat Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-2 in Beijing to equal Justine Henin’s record of ten titles in a calendar year.
Williams also moves ahead of Virginia Wade and Lindsay Davenport after collecting the 56th WTA title of her career, standing seventh in the all-time list. Although she is some way short of Martina Navratilova’s record of 167 titles, Williams now has Billie Jean King (67) and Evonne Goolagong Cawley (68) in her sights.
With a winning record of 73-4, it has been one of the most dominant seasons of Williams’ career, but she refused to rank this season ahead of 2002, when she won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open and last year, when she won Olympic singles gold on top of doubles gold and two Grand Slams.
"It's definitely one of the best seasons I've had in my career,” Williams said. “I don't know if it's the best – for me, winning three Grand Slams in one season is pretty amazing. And also winning two Grand Slams and two gold medals in one season is pretty amazing, too. So I think those are the top three of my career."
Williams will end the season at the top of the rankings for a third time – the oldest world No.1 in the history of the WTA after finishing 2002 and 2009 as the top-ranked player.
The American could also surpass $10 million in prize money this season at the season-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul later this month.
Despite her defeat to Williams, Jankovic sealed her place at the year-end championships for the first time since 2010. Petra Kvitova and Sara Errani have also qualified, joining Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na. However, Maria Sharapova has been forced to withdraw with the shoulder injury that kept her out of the US Open, leaving Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to battle it out for the eighth place in Istanbul.
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