The Only Thing Serena Williams Struggles to Win Is Endorsements

Photographer: Julian Finney/Getty Images
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Serena Williams is on the cusp of making sports history, yet she’s still not No. 1 with marketers.

That could change with a victory at the U.S. Open, which would secure tennis’s first calendar-year sweep of the four majors since Steffi Graf did it in 1988. Williams is the first No. 1 player to have twice as many ranking points as the No. 2, while her 21 major singles championships equal the rest of the women’s field combined.