adminNEW YORK. — Serena Williams was named the runaway winner of the Associated Press’ 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award, it was announced on Wednesday.Williams won the French and US Open tennis championships this year, boosting her career Grand Slam titles to 17, and 11 tournaments overall.
Her season highlights also included a 78-4 record and a 34-match winning streak, the longest in women’s tennis since her sister, Venus, won 35 straight in 2000.
In winning the award for the third time in his career (2002, 2009), Williams received 55 of 96 votes. WNBA and former Baylor player Brittney Griner finished a distant second with 14 votes and swimmer Missy Franklin was third with 10 votes.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams says she’s as fit and healthy as she has been in years and hopes to turn a dream into reality when she starts her season at the Auckland WTA tournament from Monday. — AP.
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