Jordan. Ali. Woods. Williams. That's it, that's the company.
Serena Williams is about to draw the curtain on one of the great sporting careers.
A brilliant black sports star excelling on a global stage, she has shifted and shaped opinions over the past 25 years.
Her life has been touched by tragedy as well as great joy, and she has just about lived to tell the tale.
As she prepares for her final US Open, Stats Perform looks back at the obstacles that have been put in front of the 23-time grand slam champion.
Racism since her early days
After learning the game in Compton, Williams and sister Venus endured plenty of outrageous treatment before a notorious incident in 2001 at Indian Wells.
Russian Elena Dementieva reacted to a quarter-final defeat to Venus by saying the semi-final between the sisters would be determined by their father, Richard. That baseless allegation of manipulation was followed by an injured Venus withdrawing from the match against Serena shortly before its start time.
Serena met Kim Clijsters in the final, and there were grim jeers for Venus and Richard when both took their grandstand seats. They and Serena copped brutal treatment from spectators, with Richard stating he was racially abused.
Serena beat Clijsters but did not play at Indian Wells again until 2015, recalling her memories of 2001 in an article for Time, explaining it had "haunted" the family, particularly her father.
She wrote: "He dedicated his whole life to prepping us for this incredible journey, and there he had to sit and watch his daughter being taunted, sparking cold memories of his experiences growing up in the South."
Williams told Sirius XM in February 2021: "I had to make people realise that it's okay to be black and to play tennis."
Sexism never far away
Williams considered causing a scene at Wimbledon in 2011 after being sent out to the distant Court Two to play a second-round match.
It seemed a bizarre move – probably just ignorant – to put the defending women's champion anywhere but Centre or Court One, and while she was reluctant to fully vent her frustration, it was obvious enough.
Seemingly pointing a finger at those in power, Williams said: "They're not going to change."
An angry Williams accused chair umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism in a stormy 2018 US Open final, when she lost to Naomi Osaka.
Williams was warned for receiving coaching on court, which she denied, then penalised a point for racket abuse, before being docked a game after accusing Ramos of being "a thief".
"I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff," Williams said afterwards. "For me to say 'thief' and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief'."
Williams was fined $17,000 by tournament chiefs but backed by the WTA, which runs the women's tour outside the slams.
Perilous childbirth
In February 2018, Williams wrote an article for CNN that began with the line: "I almost died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia."
She wrote of having had "a pretty easy pregnancy" and a routine C-section in August 2017, only for that to be followed by a pulmonary embolism and "a slew of health complications" she was "lucky to have survived", including a large hematoma in her abdomen. Her first six weeks as a mother were spent in bed.
Sister's death
It was September 2003, shortly after Williams underwent knee surgery that forced her out of the US Open, that her sister Yetunde Price was shot and killed in Compton.
Price was 31, with a local gangster sentenced to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter.
Williams addressed court after the April 2006 sentencing of Price's killer, saying she had "wanted to let you know that this was unfair to our family, and our family has always been positive and we always try to help people".
In 2018, Williams was trounced 6-1 6-0 by British player Johanna Konta at the Silicon Valley Classic. She came onto court moments after learning the man who shot her sister dead had been freed from prison, and later told Time: "I couldn't shake it out of my mind."
Walking on broken glass
It's an idiom, and an Annie Lennox song, but walking on broken glass was almost the moment that ended Williams' career.
It could have been a case of unlucky 13 for Williams in July 2010 when within days of winning her 13th grand slam title she suffered a foot injury, and later revealed it had been caused by stepping on glass while leaving a Munich restaurant.
She told USA Today: "I was standing, recovering, thinking I got a little cut and telling my nephew, who was with us, to be careful. Then my practice partner put a cellphone down to the floor so we could see, and there was a huge puddle of blood. I said, 'OMG, I don't think this is good'."
She needed both feet stitching up and underwent surgery to fix a drooping big toe, missing almost a full year on tour. Early in 2011 she underwent treatment for a pulmonary embolism and blood clot in her lungs, after checks were carried out during her recovery.
Chasing Court
Margaret Court has been the figure Williams has chased but looks destined to fall short of, with the Australian set to remain tantalisingly out of reach.
Four final losses for Williams since landing her 23rd major have been increasingly agonising, and it has been clear that her primary motivation for playing on all this time has been to surpass Court.
Court's controversial views on the LGBTQ community have upset many in tennis. Williams, however, just wanted to finish top of the pile, regardless of who was presently leading the way in the grand slam race.
Barring a sporting near-miracle over the US Open fortnight, she will remain second in that race, albeit the grand slam leader in the Open Era – winner of the most titles since the majors embraced professionalism in 1968.
Smiling the key for Carlos Alcaraz after French Open win over Taro Daniel
A lost set was not enough to take the smile off Carlos Alcaraz’s face as he defeated Taro Daniel to move through to the third round of the French Open.
Taking on the Japanese player on a breezy Philippe Chatrier, world number one Alcaraz won the first set easily only for his opponent to fight back at the start of the second.
It proved only a temporary blip, though, as the young Spaniard dominated the final two sets in a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2 triumph.
“I’m really happy with the level that I played today,” said Alcaraz. “I overcame the problems in the match because of the wind and it has been a really complete match from my side, and I’m really happy with that.”
Alcaraz’s positive attitude and sunny disposition has made him not just popular with his rivals but also made some of them rethink their own approach, with Stefanos Tsitsipas thanking the Spaniard during a practice session.
“I’m winning all the time because I am smiling,” said Alcaraz, who next faces Denis Shapovalov. “And I always said that smiling for me is the key of everything.
“I enjoy being in this kind of stadium, these kind of tournaments, cities. That’s the most important thing for me to enjoy, and that’s why I smile all the time.”
Tsitsipas joined Alcaraz in the third round with a 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena but former champion Stan Wawrinka lost out in the match of the day, going down in five sets to Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Australian would have felt that was justice after his epic defeat by Andy Murray at his home grand slam in January.
“It definitely feels better when you come out on the winning end of those,” said Kokkinakis.
“I had a heart-breaker against Andy earlier in the year and not many moral victories. It was a tough one to take. You can’t count these guys out no matter how old they are. They get better and better, and you can see why they are multiple grand slam champions.
“Stan is a legend. Still is, obviously, but he was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Hats off to him. The crowd was going nuts for him, but it’s a fun atmosphere. I love playing against that, so it was awesome.”
Cameron Norrie brushes aside Lucas Pouille to reach French Open third round
Cameron Norrie reached the third round of the French Open for the third year in a row with a comfortable win over home hope Lucas Pouille.
Ranked down at 675 after injury and personal problems, Pouille was bidding to make the last 32 at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon in 2019, but Norrie was too strong in a 6-1 6-3 6-3 victory.
The 14th seed wore strapping under his left knee and will no doubt be relieved to have avoided the drama of his raucous five-set duel with another Frenchman, Benoit Paire, in the first round.
The Suzanne Lenglen crowd were not as much of a factor this time, although there was another moment of umpiring controversy, this time in Norrie’s favour, in the third set.
Pouille was convinced Norrie, who was bizarrely penalised for a hindrance shout against Paire, had not got to a ball before it bounced twice but the British player did not stop play and umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore sided with him.
Pouille complained – and was shown to be correct by TV replays – amid booing from the crowd, and the French player lost four games in a row to move to the brink of defeat.
He roused himself for a late stand, breaking Norrie when he served for the match at 5-1 and having two opportunities to get back on serve, but the British number one took his second match point before a final round of booing from the crowd.
Norrie said: “All credit to Lucas, it’s great to see Lucas back and enjoying his tennis. It was a tough battle, tough to get over the line. Thank you to everyone, great atmosphere. Sorry to take another Frenchman out but hopefully you can support me in the next one.”
Norrie may feel tempted to take to the stage in the off-season given the practice he has now had at being a pantomime villain.
Booed onto court, the partisan home crowd light-heartedly jeered his shots during the warm-up while cheering those of Pouille.
The support had played a big part in inspiring Paire and Norrie appeared determined not to let the same thing happen, imposing his game straight away and looking significantly sharper than he had on Monday.
Pouille, who looked very nervous, won only six points in the first five games and, although he saved a set point to avoid the dreaded bagel, Norrie wrapped up the set in less than half an hour.
Pouille briefly became a top-10 player back in 2018 before reaching the Australian Open semi-finals the following year.
Elbow issues triggered a downward spiral that led to depression and a problem with alcohol, and he took time out of the game last year before returning at the start of this season.
A run through qualifying made him the toast of Roland Garros and he led fans in a rendition of the Marseillaise after winning his first-round match.
The 29-year-old swiftly found himself 2-0 down in the second set as well but raised home hopes by winning three games in a row and applying some real pressure to Norrie.
The British number one did well to nip Pouille’s comeback in the bud before things got complicated, and can look forward to trying to make the last 16 here for the first time.
Home favourite Caroline Garcia suffers shock second-round exit at Roland Garros
France’s great home hope, Caroline Garcia, was bundled out of Roland Garros in the second round after a dramatic encounter with Russian Anna Blinkova.
As the fifth seed, Garcia is by a distance the top-ranked French player in either the men’s or women’s singles but the country’s wait for a new grand slam champion goes on.
Blinkova, ranked 56, had never beaten a top-five player before but battled back from a set down to triumph 4-6 6-3 7-5, finally taking her ninth match point.
Nerves were clearly affecting the 24-year-old, who served for the match twice, while the partisan Philippe Chatrier crowd were willing Garcia on, but Blinkova did not let the opportunity for the biggest win of her life slip away.
Former world number three Elina Svitolina continued to impress in her comeback grand slam, taking inspiration from husband Gael Monfils as she saw off Australian Storm Hunter 3-6 6-3 6-1.
Less than 11 hours after completing an emotional five-set win over Sebastian Baez, Monfils was back at Roland Garros cheering on Svitolina.
“I watched him, but not live, I was screaming in my room,” said the Ukrainian. “It was an unbelievable match. I don’t know what he is doing here now, I think he should be resting, but I’m really thankful for him coming to support me, especially in this tough match.”
Svitolina is playing her first slam in more than a year following the birth of baby Skai last October.
The new mother and father are juggling the day job with childcare, and Svitolina said: “It’s the first tournament for us where we are both playing at the same tournament, and Skai is here with us in Paris as well. It’s really, really special.
“So far everything is going well and we really enjoy our time off the court together and on the court we try to be focused and play as good as we can.”
Svitolina is also having to put to one side thoughts of the troubles in her homeland and is using the situation to inspire her on court.
She said: “When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine. And me, I’m fighting here on my own frontline.
“I cannot be sad. I cannot be distracted in some ways. I’m just going to lose. I have a flag next to my name so I’m fighting for my country, and I’m going to do that each time I step on the court.”
Third seed Jessica Pegula had an untaxing afternoon, taking the first set 6-2 against Camila Giorgi before the Italian pulled out.
Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina produced the shot of the tournament so far, a fizzing tweener winner, in a 6-3 6-4 victory over former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, while 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko lost out 6-3 1-6 6-2 to American Peyton Stearns.
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