Serena Williams: Tennis champion Serena Williams grabs AP's 'Athlete of the Year' award for the 3rd time

Serena Williams has taken the tennis world by storm year after year and if there's one thing she continues to prove to the world time and time again, it's that the tennis star is never satisfied no matter how many championships and titles she's won.

Proving her chops as women's tennis's No. 1, Serena Williams took home numerous titles for 2013. She grabbed 11 championships in all, including the U.S. Open and the French Open, which brings up her total Grand Slam titles to an astounding 17. 

Williams is unstoppable after maintaining a winning streak of 34 matches in all and garnering more than US$12 million in prize money for her wins. 
In February, Serena Williams was hailed as WTA's oldest No. 1 and has never left her throne.

Due to her numerous achievements for this year, Serena Williams was awarded 2013's Female Athlete of the Year award by Associated Press last Wednesday, making it a third for the tennis star. Williams also won the award in 2002 and 2009, being the only other woman athlete who has been honored by AP more than once since it first started handing it out in 1931. 

"Whenever I lose, I get more determined, and it gives me something more to work toward," tennis star Serena Williams shared in an interview with Associated Press right before the start of the U.S. Open. "I don't get complacent, and I realize I need to work harder and I need to do better and I want to do better - or I wouldn't keep playing this game." 

Serena Williams, who turned 32 this September, grew up in Compton, California. 

According to WTA, Williams has continued to prove herself an inspiration to American tennis and 2013 is her most unforgettable year yet.  
With the addition of a ffth U.S. Open title and a second French Open championship to her name, Serena Williams is only one trophy away from beating Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slams each. 

The world record is still held by Margaret Court who has 24 titles to her name. 

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