Serena Williams added another distinction to her brilliant resume on Thursday.
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced today that by advancing to the singles and doubles finals of Australian Open, Williams has broken the female athlete career prize money record previously held by golfer Annika Sorenstam.
With her win yesterday and by reaching the doubles final with sister Venus, Serena not only eclipses Lindsay Davenport as the all-time leader in women’s tennis career prize money, but she also overtakes the LPGA’s Annika Sorenstam, who had held the record for career earnings with a total of $22,573,192.
“I’m thrilled with the news! I remember earning my first cheque of $240 at Quebec City in 1995 and while I knew that I could have a great career in tennis, I could not have imagined or dreamed of all of this,” said Serena Williams.
With her results to date at the 2009 Australian Open, Serena’s career earnings total US$22,725,475, surpassing Davenport by $580,740 and Sorenstam by $152,283. Davenport bypassed Steffi Graf in career prize money earnings in 2008, with the German having previously overtaken Martina Navratilova in earnings in 1998.
“This is an historic milestone not just for Serena but all women athletes,” said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “Serena is one of the all time great champions in the history of our sport and this achievement is a product of Serena’s amazing on-court accomplishments over an extended time period.”
Williams turned professional at the age of fourteen in November 1995 and played her first tournament in Quebec City, Canada.
In her fourteen-year career she has won every major title in addition to nine Grand Slams, becoming only the sixth woman, other than Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, to achieve such a feat.
