With the 2013 season in the books, an offseason series from Tennis View contributor Mike Holder looks at several of the key Americans on both Tours.  Each week, Mike will highlight one man or woman, evaluate their campaign this year, and discuss their prospects in 2014.  This series starts at the only logical place:  at the top.

If further evidence was needed to underscore the domination of women's tennis by Serena Williams, then 2013 should be entered as Exhibit A. The 32-year-old finished the season ranked world No. 1 by a margin of over 5000 points. Yet that strangehold was not always a foregone conclusion.

The year did not start off in encouraging fashion for Williams. Rewinding back to January, Williams faced and handled Sloane Stephens with ease in Brisbane as the two prepared for the first major of the season. But a different result unfolded in Melbourne at the Australian Open when they next squared off. The youngster turned the tables on the veteran, advancing in a quarterfinal win, 3-6 7-5 6-4. The loss was a bitter pill for Williams, who struggled with a serious injury during the match, and a war of words erupted between the Americans.

Even before her splendid clay season, Serena buried any residual effect from the Stephens loss. After falling to Victoria Azarenka in the Doha finals, she rolled to titles in Miami and Charleston. Then, in her preparation for Paris, Williams reeled off impressive runs on the clay courts of Madrid and Rome, defeating Maria Sharapova and Azarenka en route to those titles. She conquered the red clay of Roland Garros in overwhelming fashion, losing just one set there in the fortnight. It was an especially satisfying victory for Williams, giving her multiple titles at all four majors and her first in Paris since 2002.

At Wimbledon, though, the world No. 1 and top seed fell to Sabine Lisicki in the round of 16. But that upset, like the Stephens loss in Melbourne, proved to be a temporary setback rather than a season-turning debacle. Williams would lose only one match for the rest of the season, dropping a third-set tiebreak to Azarenka in Cincinnati while claiming titles at all five of her other tournaments.

But it was at the U. S. Open where perhaps her dominance was most notable. Williams rolled to the final after yielding just 16 total games in six matches. On that championship Sunday, she avenged her losses to Azarenka on Doha and Cincinnati hard courts with a tense 7-5 6-7 (6) 6-1 victory in a rematch of the 2012 final. A fourth-round match offered Williams a chance for more revenge, eight months after she had lost to Stephens in Melbourne. Given an opportunity to face her young countrywoman at a major once more, Serena dismissed her in straight sets.

She would play in two more events after the US Open, winning a Premier Mandatory title in Beijing before capping the season by cruising undefeated through the elite field of the WTA year-end championships in Istanbul.

Those achievements capped a stirring season in which Williams won titles at 11 of the 16 tournaments that she entered. Including her Fed Cup play, she compiled a formidable 78-4 record in singles. All of this came at what is considered to be an advanced age in the sport of professional tennis, and not long after many had written her off in the wake of a long absence.

Williams had conquered a pulmonary embolism, arising from a foot injury, that kept her out of action for much of 2010-11. Overcoming adversity, she came full circle to recapture the top ranking in 2013 once again. Said Serena recently, “I didn’t think I would play tennis again…I thought unfortunately that I just wanted to try to survive that moment and then move on.”

Move on is exactly what she did, and in style. Now, having overcome so much, she is showing no signs of slowing down. With Serena’s dominant finish to 2013, there is no reason to question whether she can continue her roll into 2014 if she stays healthy. Barring another unforeseen obstacle that causes her to miss significant time, Williams once again will wear the target at which all players will aim. After the road that she has recently traveled, she appears perfectly comfortable sitting atop the sport while taking the competition's best shot.

In fact, that situation may give her exactly the motivation that she needs to keep playing for a long time.

Next Tuesday, this series continues with a similar look at top-ranked American man John Isner.