Much has been talked about Serena’s William’s run at the US Open coming to an end and, with this, the probable end of her storied career at the age of 40. While much of the writing has focused on her dominance of women’s tennis, both in singles and in doubles (with her sister, Venus) and her place in history of one of the game’s greats (both male and female), I’d like to highlight a few psychological and kinesthetic impacts that Serena had on the game and sports in general.

Serena’s career transcended a significant evolution in women’s tennis, with the introduction and rise of her and Venus having a major and permanent impact on the women’s game. Her ability to do this in the face of significant body changes, particularly at the end of her career, is nothing short of unbelievable. Perhaps no other athlete in any sport has dominated their sport so thoroughly while undergoing such incredible physical changes.

Her 2022 US Open run at the age of 40 is testament, with significantly limited mobility, is perhaps the greatest physical triumph in recent years. By comparison, even Tom Brady, older than Serena has not had near the physical changes that Serena has. The strength, physically and mentally, that she has displayed has been quite amazing!

Much more obvious is the tremendous impact Sererna had on capacities of confidence and psychological dominance. For her entire career – even when she clearly was not playing or in “playing shape” (e.g., after having children) her opponents clearly feared her. Nobody -including Venus – were immune to this. In almost every circumstance – most notably matches she lost – her opponents expected to lose.

They clearly played like it. Perhaps the most poignant example of this dominance was Maria Sharapova – who was a clear #2 behind Serena for almost 10 years. They played 22 times between 2004 and 2019, with Serena all but one match. Sharapova only won 7 sets total, with 5 of these occurring right at the beginning of the rivalry, when Serena was new to the tour and Maria was at the height of her dominance. In the 2012 Summer Olympics Gold Medal Match, Serena beat Maria 6-0/6-1 in a match that lasted an hour.

Serena dominated against all other competition, with her sister Venus having the most wins, winning 12 of the 31 meetings they two have had. The best record belongs to Martina Hingis (6-7), Jennifer Capriati (7-10), and Justine Henin (6-8).

Nobody had a winning record against her, further displaying her dominance.

There will never be another playing like Serena, physically or mentally.