Serena Williams is Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsperson of the Year

[Auggie]

... For six weeks this summer—and for the first time in the 40-year history of the WTA rankings—Williams amassed twice as many ranking points as the world No. 2; at one point that gap grew larger than the one between No. 2 and No. 1,000. Williams’s 21 career Grand Slam singles titles are just one short of Steffi Graf’s Open-era record. Such numbers are reason enough for Sports Illustrated to name Serena Williams its 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.

But the numbers lie. Her tennis year was all internal discord and quelled revolts; Williams battled her body like never before. A cough and cold had her vomiting before and, for the first time, during a match: the Australian Open final, in January, which she won anyway. Bone bruises in both knees, the residue of 20 years of pounding, flared during the spring hardcourt swing and never subsided. Her focus frayed, her footwork suffering, she arrived at the French Open nursing a right elbow strain that would plague her unparalleled serve the rest of the year. The whole Serena Williams construct—intimidation, power, will—had gone oddly fragile.

But she refused to buckle. Then, after gutting through three three-set matches in the first week at Roland Garros, including a third-round comeback over perhaps her toughest contemporary, Victoria Azarenka, Williams came down with the flu. Beset by chills, 101º fever and congestion, she could barely move, much less sprint after balls. Yet down a set and a break in the semifinal, Williams roused herself—from pitiful to pitiless—and won 10 straight games to crush Timea Bacsinszky 6–0 in the third.

More: http://www.si.com/sportsperson/2015/12/14/serena-williams-si-sportsperson-year

[bigwillq]

1. Woo Hoo!

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Glad She Got It

She picked a good time to have such a great year. Tennis players age in doggie years. They lose it in 1,2,3.

Hoping she has an unusually long career, but history is unkind to the odds.