Serena Williams wins 7th Wimbledon title – finally ties Steffi Graf’s grand slam total of 22

I always thought the talk of Serena Williams being the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) was premature.

Not anymore.

Earlier today, she convinced me that when it comes to GOAT status, she is at least tied with Steffi Graf as both have now won the most majors in the modern era.

By defeating Germany’s Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-3 to win her seventh Wimbledon crown, she’s now even with Graf. Both women have also won the Olympic Gold medal.

This Wimbledon had to be more sweet than most of the others since Serena came up just one match short at both the Australian Open and French Open this year and lost in the semifinals of last year’s US Open.

“I have definitely had some sleepless nights with a lot of stuff, coming so close and feeling it and not being able to get there,” she told reporters after the match. “This tournament I came in with a different mindset. In Melbourne I thought I played well but Angelique played great, and better. So I knew going into this one I needed to be calm and be confident and play the tennis I’ve been playing for well over a decade.”

Talk now will surely center on the American attempting to get to Margaret Court’s 24 grand slams, the all-time record. Court was in attendance Saturday.

Serena didn’t want to dwell on the next step up the ladder, especially since she endured struggles to win her 18th major — tying Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova — and the 22nd.

“One thing I learned about last year is to enjoy the moment,” she said. “I’m definitely going to enjoy this.”

Serena and her sister, five-time Wimbledon singles champ Venus Williams, also won the Women’s Doubles title on Saturday for the sixth time. They are playing together at the Olympics next month in Rio. They are the defending Olympic champions in doubles and Serena is the defender in singles.