WTA world No.1 Serena Williams has been named the 2015 Sports Illustrated “Sportsperson of the Year.” Williams is the first female to receive the award individually since track star Mary Decker in 1983.

From the article by Sports Illustrated’s S. L. Price: “All year Williams kept coming, on a path more arduous than anyone knew, and she put together the best season by a woman in a quarter century. ‘I do want to be known as the greatest ever,’ she says. To many she already is. But that’s not the sole reason why we arrive, now, at this honor. It’s also because Williams kept pushing herself to grow, to be better, and tennis was the least of it. The trying is what’s impressive. The trying is why we are here.”

Congratulations to Serena!