Tennis superstar Serena Williams tops the American Pharoah as Sports Illustrated's 2015 Sportsperson of the Year. The American athlete has an unbelievable run this season, capturing three Grand Slam tennis titles: the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open, while maintaining a winning record of 53 and 3.
Serena held the number one spot of the Women's Tennis Ranking every week this year, not to mention the amazing 21 Grand Slam so far in her career. It is definitely quite an achievement, which could be the reason why the prestigious sports magazine chose her as this year's Sports Illustrated's 2015 "Sportsperson of the Year."
According to Sports Illustrated's Christian Stone, although Serena's achievement on the tennis courts is the main basis of choosing her as the Sportsperson of the Year; the magazine also put weighs on Serena's off the court actions.
"We are honoring Serena Williams too for reasons that hang in the grayer, less comfortable ether, where issues such as race and femininity collide with the games," he wrote through Sports Illustrated.
Stone, however, admitted that the decision was never easy because there are so many highlights in all of sports this year. Although Serena won, the popular votes went to American Pharoah, the extraordinary horse won the first Triple Crown after a 37 year drought.
The magazine also recognized Serena' antics on court that may have created doubts for some of the fans.
"She is not perfect, and assorted confrontations with, and perceived slights of, tournament officials, opponents and the public at large will find their way into her narrative, this one included," Stone wrote.
He added that no one can question Serena as a Tennis player; "as a doer, as a symbol, no one extended themselves and embraced the best (and worst) the sports world has to offer quite like Serena Williams, champion, 2015 Sportsperson of the Year."
Nevertheless, Serena's dominance on the Tennis court is not enough for her to enjoy major sponsorships like the Russian Maria Sharapova does.
Despite her achievement in the sport of tennis, the former only makes half of what the latter earns in endorsement money. In an earlier report by the Daily Dot, Serena is the "most undervalued athlete in the game today."
According to Patrick Rishe, a Forbes' sportswriter, major sponsors might be bias against the Tennis great Serena since it is still a sport dominated by whites, MSNBC reported.
