section_path: Professional career/2014–2015: Second "Serena Slam"
section_name: 2014–2015: Second "Serena Slam"
paragraph_text: 2014–2015: Second "Serena Slam"
  
  Williams defended her title at the Brisbane International by defeating No.2 Azarenka in the final. At the Australian Open, she fell in the fourth round to Ana Ivanovic. In Dubai, Williams lost her semifinal match to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. Williams then played in the Miami Open, where she won her record seventh title with a straight-sets victory over No.2 Li Na. At the Family Circle Cup, she lost to Jana Čepelová in the second round. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open before withdrawing with a thigh injury. In Rome, Williams won her third title of the season. She suffered the worst loss of her Grand Slam career in the second round of the French Open when Garbiñe Muguruza defeated her while losing just four games in two sets. Cornet defeated Williams in the third round of Wimbledon, handing Williams her earliest Wimbledon elimination since 2005. During the doubles event with Venus, Serena hit four consecutive doubles faults. She appeared disoriented and unsteady on her feet, and withdrew from the tournament. The official cause of withdrawal was "viral illness".
  
  Williams rebounded by winning 19 out of her next 20 matches (losing only to Venus in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup). The streak included titles at the Bank of the West Classic and the Western & Southern Open, and her third consecutive and sixth overall US Open singles title. With this victory, Williams tied Evert for most US Open singles titles won by a woman in the Open Era. Williams also tied Evert and Navratilova's record of 18 career Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. By virtue of winning both the US Open and the US Open Series, Williams collected $4 million—the biggest payday in tennis history. At the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore, Williams advanced to the final for the third consecutive year despite having equaled her career-worst loss in her second round robin match against Simona Halep. She claimed the WTA Finals title, which was her seventh title of the year, and finished the year ranked No.1 for the fourth time in her career. She held the top ranking for the entire calendar year, a feat not accomplished since Graf achieved it in 1996. Williams was voted WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion for a third consecutive year.
  
  Williams began the 2015 season by reaching the final of the Hopman Cup, where she and her partner John Isner lost to Poland. At the Australian Open, Williams defeated Sharapova for the 16th consecutive time to claim her sixth Australian Open singles title and 19th career Grand Slam singles title. With this victory, Williams surpassed both Evert and Navratilova for the second most Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. She is the only player in history to win all four Grand Slams at age 30 or older. She and Venus next traveled to Buenos Aires to face Argentina in a World Group II tie in the Fed Cup. She played and won her only match against María Irigoyen to help the US team win against the Argentines. After a 14-year boycott of the Indian Wells Masters, Williams announced that she would be competing at the event. Upon her return, she received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her first match in straight sets. She reached the semifinals, but was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. When Williams defeated Lisicki in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, she became the eighth woman in the Open Era to record 700 match wins in her career. This also made her one of only three active players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, the others being Nadal and Roger Federer. Williams went on to win a record eighth title in Miami.
  
  As preparation for the clay-court season (and to ensure her eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics), Williams travelled to Brindisi, Italy, where she competed with that country's team for a place in the Fed Cup 's World Group. Williams and teammate Alison Riske lost the decisive doubles match to Errani and Flavia Pennetta, which meant the United States was relegated to World Group II. It was Williams's first loss in the Fed Cup. The week of April 20 marked Williams's 114th consecutive week ranked No.1, the third-longest run in WTA history at the time, behind Graf's 186 weeks and Navratilova's 156. In the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, Williams suffered her first defeat of the season, ending a 50-match winning streak at Premier-Mandatory events. She played one match at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d'Italia before withdrawing with an elbow injury.
  
  At the 2015 French Open, Williams defeated Lucie Šafářová in three sets to claim the trophy and win her third French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title. The accomplishment made Williams only the third person in history to win each Grand Slam at least three times, the others being Court and Graf. At Wimbledon, Williams defeated three former No.1 players—Azarenka, Sharapova, and her sister Venus—to advance to the final. Awaiting her was Muguruza, who had previously handed Williams the worst Grand Slam defeat of her career. Williams bested Muguruza and claimed her sixth Wimbledon singles title and 21st Grand Slam singles title overall. With this triumph, she completed her second "Serena Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a row, but not in the same calendar year). The Wimbledon victory made Williams the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title. It also was her eighth consecutive victory in Grand Slam singles finals appearances, breaking Graf's Open Era record of seven and tying Pete Sampras's Open Era record of eight. The week of July 13 marked the first time in WTA history that the No.1 player had more than twice as many points as the No.2. Following her win at Wimbledon, Williams was awarded her seventh ESPY for Best Female Tennis Player.
  
  Williams was the defending champion at the Bank of the West Classic, but withdrew from the tournament to recover from an elbow injury. In the semifinals of the Canadian Open, Williams had a 19-match winning streak ended by 18-year-old Belinda Bencic. The next week Williams defended her title at the Western & Southern Open with a straight sets victory over No.3 Halep. Williams's attempt at capturing the "Grand Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar year) came to an end at the US Open, where she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals. The defeat has been described by some as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. On October 1, Williams called an end to her season, stating that she had been injured for most of the year and wanted to "properly address health". Coach Patrick Mouratoglou hinted that her decision to end the season early might be due to a lack of motivation and disappointment following her loss at the Open.
  
  On October 5, Williams surpassed Evert for third-most weeks ranked world No.1. Williams held the top ranking the entire season for the second consecutive year, finishing there for the fifth time in her career. She was voted WTA Player of the Year for the seventh time, and named ITF World Champion for the sixth time. She was also voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press for the fourth time in her career, and was chosen as Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated. She became the third solo woman, and the first since 1983, to receive the latter award.
  
  Williams defended her title at the Brisbane International by defeating No.2 Azarenka in the final. At the Australian Open, she fell in the fourth round to Ana Ivanovic. In Dubai, Williams lost her semifinal match to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. Williams then played in the Miami Open, where she won her record seventh title with a straight-sets victory over No.2 Li Na. At the Family Circle Cup, she lost to Jana Čepelová in the second round. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open before withdrawing with a thigh injury. In Rome, Williams won her third title of the season. She suffered the worst loss of her Grand Slam career in the second round of the French Open when Garbiñe Muguruza defeated her while losing just four games in two sets. Cornet defeated Williams in the third round of Wimbledon, handing Williams her earliest Wimbledon elimination since 2005. During the doubles event with Venus, Serena hit four consecutive doubles faults. She appeared disoriented and unsteady on her feet, and withdrew from the tournament. The official cause of withdrawal was "viral illness".
  
  Williams rebounded by winning 19 out of her next 20 matches (losing only to Venus in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup). The streak included titles at the Bank of the West Classic and the Western & Southern Open, and her third consecutive and sixth overall US Open singles title. With this victory, Williams tied Evert for most US Open singles titles won by a woman in the Open Era. Williams also tied Evert and Navratilova's record of 18 career Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. By virtue of winning both the US Open and the US Open Series, Williams collected $4 million—the biggest payday in tennis history. At the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore, Williams advanced to the final for the third consecutive year despite having equaled her career-worst loss in her second round robin match against Simona Halep. She claimed the WTA Finals title, which was her seventh title of the year, and finished the year ranked No.1 for the fourth time in her career. She held the top ranking for the entire calendar year, a feat not accomplished since Graf achieved it in 1996. Williams was voted WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion for a third consecutive year.
  
  Williams began the 2015 season by reaching the final of the Hopman Cup, where she and her partner John Isner lost to Poland. At the Australian Open, Williams defeated Sharapova for the 16th consecutive time to claim her sixth Australian Open singles title and 19th career Grand Slam singles title. With this victory, Williams surpassed both Evert and Navratilova for the second most Grand Slam singles titles won in the Open Era. She is the only player in history to win all four Grand Slams at age 30 or older. She and Venus next traveled to Buenos Aires to face Argentina in a World Group II tie in the Fed Cup. She played and won her only match against María Irigoyen to help the US team win against the Argentines. After a 14-year boycott of the Indian Wells Masters, Williams announced that she would be competing at the event. Upon her return, she received a standing ovation from the crowd and won her first match in straight sets. She reached the semifinals, but was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. When Williams defeated Lisicki in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, she became the eighth woman in the Open Era to record 700 match wins in her career. This also made her one of only three active players to have won 700 or more matches in singles, the others being Nadal and Roger Federer. Williams went on to win a record eighth title in Miami.
  
  As preparation for the clay-court season (and to ensure her eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics), Williams travelled to Brindisi, Italy, where she competed with that country's team for a place in the Fed Cup 's World Group. Williams and teammate Alison Riske lost the decisive doubles match to Errani and Flavia Pennetta, which meant the United States was relegated to World Group II. It was Williams's first loss in the Fed Cup. The week of April 20 marked Williams's 114th consecutive week ranked No.1, the third-longest run in WTA history at the time, behind Graf's 186 weeks and Navratilova's 156. In the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, Williams suffered her first defeat of the season, ending a 50-match winning streak at Premier-Mandatory events. She played one match at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d'Italia before withdrawing with an elbow injury.
  
  At the 2015 French Open, Williams defeated Lucie Šafářová in three sets to claim the trophy and win her third French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title. The accomplishment made Williams only the third person in history to win each Grand Slam at least three times, the others being Court and Graf. At Wimbledon, Williams defeated three former No.1 players—Azarenka, Sharapova, and her sister Venus—to advance to the final. Awaiting her was Muguruza, who had previously handed Williams the worst Grand Slam defeat of her career. Williams bested Muguruza and claimed her sixth Wimbledon singles title and 21st Grand Slam singles title overall. With this triumph, she completed her second "Serena Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a row, but not in the same calendar year). The Wimbledon victory made Williams the oldest woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title. It also was her eighth consecutive victory in Grand Slam singles finals appearances, breaking Graf's Open Era record of seven and tying Pete Sampras's Open Era record of eight. The week of July 13 marked the first time in WTA history that the No.1 player had more than twice as many points as the No.2. Following her win at Wimbledon, Williams was awarded her seventh ESPY for Best Female Tennis Player.
  
  Williams was the defending champion at the Bank of the West Classic, but withdrew from the tournament to recover from an elbow injury. In the semifinals of the Canadian Open, Williams had a 19-match winning streak ended by 18-year-old Belinda Bencic. The next week Williams defended her title at the Western & Southern Open with a straight sets victory over No.3 Halep. Williams's attempt at capturing the "Grand Slam" (winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar year) came to an end at the US Open, where she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals. The defeat has been described by some as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. On October 1, Williams called an end to her season, stating that she had been injured for most of the year and wanted to "properly address health". Coach Patrick Mouratoglou hinted that her decision to end the season early might be due to a lack of motivation and disappointment following her loss at the Open.
  
  On October 5, Williams surpassed Evert for third-most weeks ranked world No.1. Williams held the top ranking the entire season for the second consecutive year, finishing there for the fifth time in her career. She was voted WTA Player of the Year for the seventh time, and named ITF World Champion for the sixth time. She was also voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press for the fourth time in her career, and was chosen as Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated. She became the third solo woman, and the first since 1983, to receive the latter award.