Serena Williams 'Best' Award, Female Athlete of the Year 2013 by AP For the Third Time
Serena Williams was honored as The Associated Press' 2013 Female Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.
The prestige is the third AP award for Williams after she won the same honor in 2002 and 2009. Only two women have been chosen more often as AP Athlete of the Year since the annual awards were first handed out in 1931: Chris Evert with four and Babe Didrikson six.
Williams received 55 of 96 votes by news organizations. Brittney Griner, a two-time AP Player of the Year in college basketball and the No. 1 pick in April's WNBA draft, finished second with 14. Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin came in third place with 10.
Williams, 32, went 78-4 with 11 titles in 2013, including at the French Open and U.S. Open, raising her Grand Slam championship total to 17. She set herself a 34-match winning streak this year and earned more than $12 million in prize money, which AP reported as a record for women's tennis. In February, she became the oldest No. 1 in WTA rankings history.
"Whenever I lose, I get more determined, and it gives me something more to work toward," the California native told the AP in an interview shortly 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."
The Male Athlete of the Year recipient will be announced Thursday.
