Serena Williams wins US Open – matches Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s 18 grand slam titles

After Serena Williams won the 18th Grand Slam singles title of her career on Sunday at the US Open, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who also have 18 each, were on hand to present her with a special bracelet commemorating the occasion.

Serena turns 33 later this month and is the oldest woman to win the title in the Open era. It is her third straight U.S. Open title and sixth overall. With a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Caroline Wozniacki, she matched Chrissie’s’s total of six championships at the U.S. Open and became the first woman to win three in a row since Evert won four from 1975-78.

“I just never could have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova because I was just a kid with a dream and a racket,” Serena said after the match.

In the Open era of tennis, Steffi Graf holds the record with 22 titles. All time — i.e., pre-Open era — Margaret Court is the leader with 24 titles; Graf is at 22; and Helen Wills Moody is at 19.

“I feel she can keep going,” Evert says. “There’s no reason why she can’t reach Steffi. … She can win three or four more for sure, in my mind, if she stays healthy, stays engaged in the sport and stays motivated. And I think she has a real sense of history now, which has changed. I think at the beginning of her career she didn’t.”

Serena has now won six US Open, five Wimbledon, five Australian Open and two French Open titles over the course of 15 years – a record span of years between winning Grand Slams.