By Emma Quayle
Just before midnight, Serena Williams made her way into the press room at the Australian Open. By 12.30am she had carted her seventh Daphne Akhurst trophy back outside, to squeeze in one last pose for the photographers.
By lunchtime on Sunday she was on her way home; the tennis circus doesn't pause for record holders or even let them get much sleep. "I'm leaving," said Williams, asking if she would stick around for Federer v Nadal. "Man, I got to watch that match."
Fans were ready for Williams to win her 23rd grand slam title, and break her tie with Steffi Graf. They had been ready for a while.
Serena wore red and black Nike Jordan boots featuring the No. 23 for the post-match presentation (you can also buy them in pink), Berlei had a new ad ready to run on social media and straight after the match Williams signed a set of gold racquets made by Wilson, strung to her specifications and featuring a 24-carat trapdoor on the butt cap. On sale for $960, with all proceeds headed for her foundation. All 23 were sold online within minutes.
Serena Williams with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy.Credit: Getty Images
None of this is to say that Serena is done, or satisfied. Graf was 30 when she retired, fresh off her first grand slam finals in three years at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 1999, but with a hamstring injury and a lost love for the sport. Williams was 35 when she beat her older sister Venus on Saturday night, and plans to enjoy this one. "It's a great number. I know she would like to have a little more," said Venus, while Serena conceded that it had sat somewhere at the back of her mind since she was 22.
"I guess after Wimbledon," said Williams, who went on to lose her US Open semi-final to Karolina Pliskova last year. Those Nikes had been sitting in a cupboard somewhere since. "I obviously was thinking, 'OK, the next one.' I got it so fast, it didn't stay on the radar so long."
So is No. 24 – the Margaret Court pre-Open era record – just around the corner? "No," said Williams. She hasn't forgotten: it took a year and three tough losses to creep from 21 up to 22. "One thing I learned in the past is you have to enjoy it. That's the beauty of winning Australia, you have a few months to relax. If you win the French it's like back-to-back-to-back. Australia, you have time to enjoy the moment before the next grand slam."
Williams met Court in Perth last year for a "really interesting" chat, but grew up watching Graf, Monica Seles, Pete Sampras and can remember feeling inspired as a nine-year-old by Zina Garrison's run to the Wimbledon final. Now she knows that she, Graf and Martina Navratilova [with 18 grand slam titles] are "hands down leading the conversation" when it comes to talk about which player is the greatest of all time.
"Yeah, just one thing about a champion, they keep fighting, they keep going," she said. "I just feel like those four really are incredible fighters. They're mentally tough as well. They always kept going. It's something that I learned from them a lot, is how to hopefully do the same, which hopefully I've been able to do."
So what's next. A "Serena Slam"? Nope. "A Serena Slam doesn't start in Australia," Williams said. "It starts any other Grand Slam outside of Australia."
A regular 'slam? "I don't think about that either." How about one of the best-ever sporting stories to tell? Venus can answer that one for her. "I don't think we're going for the greatest story in sports," she said. "We're just going for some dreams. In the case that we are, what an honour, what an honour."