A year ago at this time, a 32-year old Serena Williams was stuck at 17 major wins and the prospect of catching—let alone surpassing—Steffi Graf’s record 22 in the open era (starting in 1968) seemed a long shot at best. Williams had advanced to just one of the previous five grand slam finals, winning the 2013 U.S. Open, and it seemed the sun was finally setting on a fabulous career.
Fast forward one year and the 33-year old, who’s just two and a half months shy of her 34th birthday, has swept the last four majors and seems a cinch to catch and pass Graf’s record.
Well, probably.
Saturday’s straight-sets win over Garbiñe Muguruza made the No. 1 ranked Williams the oldest major winner in the open era, on the women’s side, edging out the 33-year, 8-month-old Martina Navratilova, who won Wimbledon in 1990 at the historically advanced age.
