For the sixth time, Serena Williams has been named the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Women’s World Champion of 2015.
Williams won this honor before in 2002, 2009, 2012, 2013, and in 2014. She has been the third Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) player to receive the honor this many times, just behind Martina Navratilova who won it six times as well as Steffi Graf who won the title seven times.
“It means a lot to me to be named the ITF World Champion for the sixth time. I am proud to have achieved my second Serena Slam, in what has been an amazing year for me. Thank you for this recognition and for the undying support of the tennis community,” Williams stated regarding the news of the honor.
This year, Williams performed incredibly, winning three out of the four major tournaments involved in the Grand Slam (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon) and got to the semifinals of the other (US Open).
Along with being the ITF World Champion yet again, Williams has also received many other awards for her talent this year. These include the WTA Year-End World No. 1 Singles Ranking, WTA Player Of The Year, Sports Illustrated Sportsperson Of The Year, and as of last week, WTA player to have over 6 million Twitter followers. Now that’s a feat!
The ITF winner is selected through an unbiased system that considers all World Champions’ results throughout the year. However, additional attention is paid to the Grand Slam tourneys and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. Every ITF recipient receives their award at the following French Open.
Serena Williams is not only an outstanding tennis champion, she influences many demographics and groups, especially youths looking to her for guidance and inspiration, and she has proven to be a great role model.
“With a defeat, when you lose, you get up, you make it better, you try again. That’s what I do in life, when I get down, when I get sick, I don’t want to just stop. I keep going and I try to do more. Everyone always says never give up but you really have to take that to hear and really do never definitely give up. Keep trying.”