National Women’s Hall of Fame welcomes Serena Williams as a 2024 Inductee

By | Niranjan Bhargav 19 Nov, 2023

Serena Williams will be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, which honors women’s achievements in a variety of areas, in March 2024.

Williams will be one of ten women recognized during Women’s History Month in March. She will be commemorated in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the first women’s rights conference in 1848.

The American won 23 Grand Slam singles championships, 14 Grand Slam doubles wins with her sister Venus, and four Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles before retiring from professional tennis in September 2022.

Throughout her career, the American was rated World No. 1 in singles for 319 weeks. She is the first player in history to have achieved a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

Serena Williams, on the other hand, is not only a champion on the court; she has also been a champion for women’s rights, social justice, and diversity throughout her career. Her platform has been utilized to campaign for fair pay, racial equality, maternal health, and education.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner will join a distinguished group of women honored in the Hall of Fame since its debut in 1973. Tennis stars Althea Gibson and Billie Jean King are also members of the club.

Serena Williams will be joined in the Class of 2024 by other renowned women, including civil rights leader Ruby Bridges, activist and academic Peggy McIntosh, theologian Judith Plaskow, and others.

How Serena Williams rose to become one of the Open Era’s best Grand Slam champions

Serena Williams dominated the sport for over three decades, earning a women’s Open Era record of 23 Grand Slam singles trophies, the second-most of all time.

Williams made her Grand Slam debut in 1998 and won her first Major title in 1999 at the US Open. She went on to complete the Career Grand Slam in 2003, and she also held all four Grand Slam championships twice, in 2002-03 and 2014-15.

The 42-year-old has seven Australian Open and Wimbledon trophies, six US Open titles, and three French Open crowns.

Serena Williams is also the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open Era, having won the Australian Open in 2017 at the age of 35 years, four months, and two days. Surprisingly, she was pregnant with Olympia at the time.

In her final appearance in front of fans, the American superstar reached the third round of the 2022 US Open before losing in a tight three-setter against Ajla Tomljanovic.