Jordan. Ali. Woods. Williams. That's it, that's the company.
Serena Williams is about to draw the curtain on one of the great sporting careers.
A brilliant black sports star excelling on a global stage, she has shifted and shaped opinions over the past 25 years.
Her life has been touched by tragedy as well as great joy, and she has just about lived to tell the tale.
As she prepares for her final US Open, Stats Perform looks back at the obstacles that have been put in front of the 23-time grand slam champion.
Racism since her early days
After learning the game in Compton, Williams and sister Venus endured plenty of outrageous treatment before a notorious incident in 2001 at Indian Wells.
Russian Elena Dementieva reacted to a quarter-final defeat to Venus by saying the semi-final between the sisters would be determined by their father, Richard. That baseless allegation of manipulation was followed by an injured Venus withdrawing from the match against Serena shortly before its start time.
Serena met Kim Clijsters in the final, and there were grim jeers for Venus and Richard when both took their grandstand seats. They and Serena copped brutal treatment from spectators, with Richard stating he was racially abused.
Serena beat Clijsters but did not play at Indian Wells again until 2015, recalling her memories of 2001 in an article for Time, explaining it had "haunted" the family, particularly her father.
She wrote: "He dedicated his whole life to prepping us for this incredible journey, and there he had to sit and watch his daughter being taunted, sparking cold memories of his experiences growing up in the South."
Williams told Sirius XM in February 2021: "I had to make people realise that it's okay to be black and to play tennis."
Sexism never far away
Williams considered causing a scene at Wimbledon in 2011 after being sent out to the distant Court Two to play a second-round match.
It seemed a bizarre move – probably just ignorant – to put the defending women's champion anywhere but Centre or Court One, and while she was reluctant to fully vent her frustration, it was obvious enough.
Seemingly pointing a finger at those in power, Williams said: "They're not going to change."
An angry Williams accused chair umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism in a stormy 2018 US Open final, when she lost to Naomi Osaka.
Williams was warned for receiving coaching on court, which she denied, then penalised a point for racket abuse, before being docked a game after accusing Ramos of being "a thief".
"I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff," Williams said afterwards. "For me to say 'thief' and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief'."
Williams was fined $17,000 by tournament chiefs but backed by the WTA, which runs the women's tour outside the slams.
Perilous childbirth
In February 2018, Williams wrote an article for CNN that began with the line: "I almost died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia."
She wrote of having had "a pretty easy pregnancy" and a routine C-section in August 2017, only for that to be followed by a pulmonary embolism and "a slew of health complications" she was "lucky to have survived", including a large hematoma in her abdomen. Her first six weeks as a mother were spent in bed.
Sister's death
It was September 2003, shortly after Williams underwent knee surgery that forced her out of the US Open, that her sister Yetunde Price was shot and killed in Compton.
Price was 31, with a local gangster sentenced to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter.
Williams addressed court after the April 2006 sentencing of Price's killer, saying she had "wanted to let you know that this was unfair to our family, and our family has always been positive and we always try to help people".
In 2018, Williams was trounced 6-1 6-0 by British player Johanna Konta at the Silicon Valley Classic. She came onto court moments after learning the man who shot her sister dead had been freed from prison, and later told Time: "I couldn't shake it out of my mind."
Walking on broken glass
It's an idiom, and an Annie Lennox song, but walking on broken glass was almost the moment that ended Williams' career.
It could have been a case of unlucky 13 for Williams in July 2010 when within days of winning her 13th grand slam title she suffered a foot injury, and later revealed it had been caused by stepping on glass while leaving a Munich restaurant.
She told USA Today: "I was standing, recovering, thinking I got a little cut and telling my nephew, who was with us, to be careful. Then my practice partner put a cellphone down to the floor so we could see, and there was a huge puddle of blood. I said, 'OMG, I don't think this is good'."
She needed both feet stitching up and underwent surgery to fix a drooping big toe, missing almost a full year on tour. Early in 2011 she underwent treatment for a pulmonary embolism and blood clot in her lungs, after checks were carried out during her recovery.
Chasing Court
Margaret Court has been the figure Williams has chased but looks destined to fall short of, with the Australian set to remain tantalisingly out of reach.
Four final losses for Williams since landing her 23rd major have been increasingly agonising, and it has been clear that her primary motivation for playing on all this time has been to surpass Court.
Court's controversial views on the LGBTQ community have upset many in tennis. Williams, however, just wanted to finish top of the pile, regardless of who was presently leading the way in the grand slam race.
Barring a sporting near-miracle over the US Open fortnight, she will remain second in that race, albeit the grand slam leader in the Open Era – winner of the most titles since the majors embraced professionalism in 1968.
Murray embracing new found freedom after tennis retirement
Andy Murray expected to miss playing tennis after putting his racket down for the final time last month but said retirement has been "the complete opposite" to what he anticipated.
Murray, who won three grand slam titles across a glittering 19-year career, saw his time on the court come to an end at Roland-Garros in the Paris Olympics.
The 37-year-old competed alongside Dan Evans in the men's doubles, reaching the quarter-finals of the competition to eventual bronze medallists Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
Murray withdrew from Wimbledon ahead of the Games after picking up a back injury against Jordan Thompson at the Queen's Club Championship, the latest of many injury setbacks towards the latter stages of his career.
"Since I've stopped, I feel really free and have got lots of time to do whatever it is I want," Murray told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"I can dedicate time to my children and have free time to play golf or go to the gym on my own terms.
"It is really nice and I didn't expect that. I was expecting to find retirement hard and be missing tennis a lot and wanting to get back on the tennis court on tour.
"So far it has been the complete opposite to what I was thinking."
The 37-year-old won his first grand slam in 2012 at the US Open before ending Britain's 77-year wait for a men's Wimbledon champion in 2013, winning it again in 2016.
During his career, Murray played 1,001 singles matches in his career, earning his landmark victory against Alexei Popyrin in three sets at Queen's.
After his injury in W14, the Scot vowed that the 2024 Olympic Games would be where his career ended, a competition he won two gold medals in 2012 and 2016.
While there was no perfect ending in the French capital, Murray revealed he was now spending some quality time with his family.
"The thing that I always found difficult in recent years was that there was always a guilt associated with what I was doing," Murray said.
"If I was going away for a trip of like three to four weeks I would feel guilty leaving my children at home or being away from my wife for a long time with them, so missing the kids I found hard.
"But if I was at home with the kids then I was running around and spending a lot of my time on my feet after training.
"I was then thinking 'is this going to affect my training or performance the next day, should I have my feet up?' I found that stuff difficult over the last few years."
US Open: ATP's next generation pushing each other, says Sinner
After triumphing at Flushing Meadows, Jannik Sinner feels the next generation of stars on the ATP Tour push each other on.
Sinner won his second grand slam title by beating Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-4 7-5 in the US Open final on Sunday.
The Italian became the third youngest player in the Open Era to win the title at the Cincinnati Open and Flushing Meadows during the same season after Andy Roddick (2003) and John McEnroe (1981).
He is the third youngest player during the Open Era to register a minimum of 23 wins in grand slam matches during a single season, older only than Pete Sampras (23-2, 1993) and Rafael Nadal (24-2, 2008).
And while Novak Djokovic is still going strong, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are spearheading a new generation of stars that are already living up to their potential.
"I feel like the new generation, we push each other," the world number one told ESPN after his win over 26-year-old Fritz.
"I always have players who are going to make me a better player, because there are going to be times where they beat me.
"Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players."
Alcaraz was among those to congratulate Sinner, with the Spaniard posting on his Instagram story after the final.
Fritz, meanwhile, became the second oldest American male in the Open Era to reach a maiden men's singles final at a grand slam, after MaliVai Washington (27 years 15 days) at Wimbledon in 1996.
He was looking to emulate Roddick's success from 2003, ending a 21-year wait for a homegrown champion at Flushing Meadows, but could not get over the line.
"There's obviously a lot of positives, and when I get some time to cool down then I'll be happy about the fact that I made it to the finals," reflected Fritz, who feels like he let fans down.
"But right now I'm pretty disappointed in just a lot of things on the court, how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks.
"And I'm not saying that it necessarily would have made a difference. I don't know if it would have, but I just would have liked to have played better and given myself a better chance. It's really disappointing right now.
"I feel like the fans obviously, American fans, been wanting a men's champion for a long time, and I'm pretty upset with how I played. I feel like, I don't know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down."
US Open: Fritz 'sorry' for not providing crowd with home victory
Taylor Fritz said he was "sorry" he could not provide home victory in the US Open after losing in straight sets to world number one Jannik Sinner in the final.
It has been 21 years since an American claimed the US Open title when Andy Roddick won in straight sets in 2003 against Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Fritz became the first American to reach the final since Roddick lost to Roger Federer in 2006, after beating Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals.
He also registered impressive victories against Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud on his route to the final.
Yet he came up short against the reigning Australian Open champion, losing 6-3 6-4 7-5 in the final in front of a home crowd at Flushing Meadows.
"Thanks to the fans. Being an American at the US Open is incredible, feeling the love all week," said Fritz after the final.
"I know we've been waiting for a champion for a long time, so I'm sorry I couldn't get it done this time, but I'm going to keep working and, hopefully, the next time."
Fritz became the second-oldest American (26 years and 313 days) in the Open era to reach a maiden men's singles final at a grand slam.
"It's been an amazing two weeks and congrats to Jannik, he played a great match. It was really impressive, he was too good," he added.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
