Will Serena Williams' reign end?

ByGREG GARBER
January 11, 2014, 11:09 AM

— -- In several, very fundamental ways, they are the same extraordinary person.

Thirty-two years ago, Serena Williams and Roger Federer were born within seven weeks of each other. They are, at the very least, the tennis players of their generation, ruthless competitors when matches mean the most. Appropriately, they both own 17 Grand Slam singles titles.

"It's an honor to be even with Roger," Williams said after winning last year's US Open. "It feels really good to be in the same league as him. He's just been so incredibly consistent, so we have had really different careers."