‘I’m not giving up’ – Serena still chasing magic number 24

Never say never if you’re Serena Williams – who’s insistent that she is still aiming to win 24 singles Grand Slam before she retires

Serena Williams at Roland-Garros (Panoramic)

Carrie Dunn

March 5, 2022

Serena Williams says she has not given up hope of winning a 24th singles Grand Slam and breaking Margaret Court’s long-standing record.

In an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN, the 40-year-old admitted that she felt that she should already have surpassed that record by some way.

“I’m committed to me right now,” she told Amanpour. “I love tennis. I love what I do. Right now I just have to commit to me. What does that mean? I don’t know.

At the beginning of the week, I sat down with one of the greatest tennis players of all time @serenawilliams in Paris.

I asked Serena whether she thinks she can still match Margaret Court's record 24 Grand Slam singles titles. "I'm not giving up," she tells me. pic.twitter.com/0zrMCGlRIN
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) March 4, 2022

“I still play tennis, obviously, and I still train. I think I’m the kind of person who’s like honestly I should be at 30 or 32 [singles Grand Slam titles]. That’s kind of how I look at it.”

Serena – I’ve had so many opportunities

When asked whether she felt that she had already done everything she needed to do in tennis, Williams was quick to disagree.

“I haven’t done it,” she replied. “I haven’t done it at all, or else I would have done it. That’s what it is.

“I don’t know. I should have had it. I’ve had many opportunities to have it. I’m not giving up.”

Since winning her 23rd Grand Slam at the 2017 Australian Open – when she was pregnant with daughter Olympia – she has reached four more Slam finals, two at Wimbledon, two at the US Open, and has not won a set in any of them.