![SOTYCOV1221.lo.indd Sports Illustrated Sports Person of the Year](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/si-cover-2015-sportsperson-of-the-year.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Women’s tennis superstar Serena Williams was named Sports Illustrated‘s 2015 Sportsperson of the Year on Monday morning, capping a year in which she won 53 of 56 matches and closed to within one win of the record for Grand Slam singles titles.
Williams, 34, had a dominant 2015 even as she battled injury, boasting the No. 1 ranking in the sport every week for the second year in a row. She narrowly missed the first calendar year Grand Slam when she suffered an upset loss during the US Open in September.
“I didn’t want to necessarily put a fist through a wall—I felt more like, Ah, man, I was so close!” Williams told the magazine. “I’ll always think about what I could have done better. Could I have come up on the net? Been more consistent? It’s not anger. It’s analyzing: What can I do next time?”
Read the full story at Sports Illustrated
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