The numbers behind two decades of Serena Williams’ dominance

Serena Williams – statistically the greatest tennis player of her era – is expected to call time on her illustrious career at the upcoming US Open.

Williams has won 23 grand slam singles titles and has twice held all four majors at the same time.

No other female player has won more than seven grand slams during her 27 years on the WTA Tour.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the numbers that show how Williams has stayed at the top for so long.

Williams has a winning record against all 22 players she has faced 10 or more times – a list of individuals who span more than 15 years from oldest to youngest and have 43 grand slam trophies between them.

Serena has played the most matches against her older sister Venus, winning 19 of their 31 encounters, including seven out of nine grand slam finals.

Her next most common opponents are Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, who she has faced 23 and 22 times respectively.

Williams has beaten Sharapova more times than anyone else and holds a 20-2 win-loss record.

She lost two of her first three matches against Sharapova – including the 2004 Wimbledon final when the Russian was just 17 – but went on to win their next 19 meetings, dropping only three sets along the way.

The closest of Williams’ significant rivalries was with Martina Hingis.

Hingis and Williams turned professional within a year of each other in the mid-1990s and spent their late teens and early 20s at the top of the game, before injury forced the Swiss into temporary retirement in 2003.

Williams won seven of their 13 meetings – all played before she turned 21 – but Hingis was arguably the more successful of the two as a teenager, winning five grand slams to Williams’ one.

Williams has played 1,011 matches on the WTA