World No.1 Serena Williams has received another title this year after being awarded the AP Female Athlete of the Year title.
Williams received an outstanding score with 50 first-place votes accumulating to 352 points from U.S. editors and news directors. Her nearest rival was second place football player Carli Lloyd, who received 14 first-place votes amounting to 243 points. It is the fourth time that Williams has been named female athlete of the year by the Associated Press. She has also received the award in 2002, 2009 and 2013. Shortly after receiving the award on Friday, the world No.1 posted a thank-you on her Instagram account.
This year the 34-year-old has produced a win-loss of 26-1 in Grand Slam tournaments. Williams was triumphant at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. She was on course to become the first woman to win all four Grand Slams within the same year since 1988 but suffered a shock semi-final loss to Roberta Vinci at the US Open. Outside of the Grand Slams, Williams has also won titles in Miami and Cincinnati.
The outstanding performance by Williams this year is reflected in the rankings where she currently leads world No.2 Simona Halep by 3885 points. She has played 56 matches on the tour this year, winning 53 of them.
After deciding to end her season early shortly after her US Open exit, Williams first tournament of 2016 will be at the Hopman Cup where she will partner Jack Sock.
Serena Williams 2015 season
Hopman Cup (partnering John Isner) – Runners-up
Australian Open – Champion
Indian Wells – retired at semi-final stage
Miami – Champion
Fed Cup – win-loss of 3-1 (loss occured in doubles against Italy)
Madrid – semi-final
Rome – withdrew in third round
French Open – Champion
Wimbledon – Champion
Bastad – withdrew in second round
Canadian Open – semi-finalist
Cincinnati – Champion
US Open – semi-finalist
