Serena Named AP Female Athlete of the Year for Third Time
Serena Williams received yet another accolade for her phenomenal 2013 season, being named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the third time. Serena amassed some incredible numbers in 2013, winning 11 WTA titles (including her 16th and 17th Grand Slam titles at the French and U.S. Opens) and 78 matches (including a career-best 34-match winning streak between Miami and Wimbledon). She also set two of all-time records, becoming the oldest player ever to become world number one on Feb. 18 and earning $12,385,572 of prize money during the season, which blew away the previous single season prize money record of $7,923,920.
Serena was also year-end world number one for the third time, having already achieved the feat in 2002 and 2009—the same two previous years she was Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.
The Associated Press has given out its Athlete of the Year awards for male and female athletes since 1931. The annual winners are voted for by a panel of AP sports editors throughout the United States.
Serena is just the third women's tennis player to receive the award three or more times, after Maureen Connolly (who won three times in 1951, 1952 and 1953) and Chris Evert (who won four times in 1974, 1975, 1977 and 1980). Other women's tennis players who won the award are Helen Jacobs, Helen Wills Moody, Alice Marble, Althea Gibson, Maria Bueno, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati.
