Serena Williams or Monica Seles: Who won more titles as a teenager?
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Serena Williams and Monica Seles
Tennis has always seen the pros dominating for years before they are dethroned from the top. A teenage star in these situations is welcomed with open arms. Both Serena Williams and Monica Seles were teen sensations who burst onto the scene and took the tennis world by storm.
Williams and Seles both won Grand Slam titles as teenagers and caused many upsets even before winning the majors. Seles went on to even become a teenage World No. 1 while Williams had to wait a little longer to become the World No. 1, achieving the feat 2.5 months shy of her 21st birthday.
Monica Seles’ title tally as a teenager
While both of them went on to have successful and historic careers, the question still remains, who won more titles as a teenager. Seles turned Pro in February 1989, 2 months after celebrating her 15th birthday and made a big start to her career as a Pro.
Seles won her first-ever title in April 1989 at the Virginia Slims of Houston defeating Chris Evert in 3-sets. Seles did not win another title the entire year. Come 1990, she became an unstoppable force, especially during the Clay season.
Seles won 9 titles in 1990 including a 36-match winning streak achieved during the Clay season as she won the 1990 French Open at the age of 16 years 189 days, a record that stands to date at the Grand Slam. She held the overall record till 1997 Australian Open before Martina Hingis broke it by winning in Melbourne at the age of 16 years and 117 days.
1991 was no different as she won 10 titles that year winning all majors except Wimbledon that year. She won another 10 titles in 1992 including successful title defences in Melbourne, Paris and New York as Wimbledon eluded her once again. Seles’ three consecutive titles in the French Open remain a record to date matched only by Henin (2005-07).
Seles won only two titles in the 1993 season as she was stabbed the following year in Germany which saw her go on a hiatus only to return again in 1995. Aged 19 years when she was forced to take a break, Seles had won 31 singles titles from 43 finals winning 8 Grand Slams in the process.
Seles also won 4 Doubles titles till 1992 being 4-0 in doubles finals before turning 20. She retired with a 6-3 record in doubles while her singles record stands at 53-32 as the stabbing incident put a massive dent on her career.
Serena Williams’ titles tally as a teenager
Williams turned Pro in October 1995, a month after her 14th birthday following the footsteps of her elder sister Venus Williams. Venus had also turned Pro at the age of 14. Compared to Seles, Serena had a slow start to her career in terms of winning titles.
The younger Williams won her first-ever singles title at the 1999 Open GDF Suez defeating local girl Amelie Mauresmo in the finals in 3-sets at the age of 18. She won 5 titles that year including the 1999 US Open. During the 2000 season, Williams added three more titles to her trophy cabinet but couldn’t win any major.
In the 2001 season, before her 20th birthday, Williams won two more singles titles to win a total of 10 singles titles from 13 finals. In the doubles, however, she won 8 titles from 9 finals which saw her complete the Golden Slam winning all four majors and the Olympics Gold partnering Venus in all of those matches.
Serena retires with a 23-2 record in Doubles and a 73-25 record in Singles. Unlike Seles, Serena also won 2 Mixed Doubles Grand Slam titles with Max Mirnyi at the 1998 Wimbledon and US Open while finishing runner-up at the 1998 French Open and the 1999 Australian Open.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)