Tennis champion stuns on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the magazine's sports person of the year

December 14, 2015 10:30 PM

Serena showed of her fierce energy in these cover photos, looking like the perfect contrast of strength and femininity.

Serena Williams for Sports Illustrated

Tennis champion, Serena Williams, is the stunning cover girl for Sports Illustrated magazine's latest addition, and even better, has emerged as the magazine's sports person of the year 2015.

Read: Tennis star named SI's Sportsperson of the Year

From lace to wool and cotton, she was a total woman in these new photos.

The opportunity to cover an edition of the magazine, as prestigious as it seems, is nothing compared to the honour of being the first single woman to be honoured as the sports person of the year since 1983.

It should be noted that this is the first time a single woman has been honored on the magazine's cover since track and field athlete, Mary Decker, was named the sports person of the year in 1983.

Serena has also been named the first active tennis player since Chris Evert earned the title in 1976.

In a statement, the magazine had this to say about Serena:

"Serena has made a very strong case as not only the greatest tennis player of her generation but of all time, and after the string of performances she put together in 2015, she is one of the most dominant athletes playing today."

Serena has now won 21 Grand Slam titles, 53 of 56 matches she played this season, and has been ranked No. 1 in women's tennis records every week for the second consecutive year.

Read: Tennis champion writes touching tribute to her late friend

She needs one more Grand Slam to enable her meet up with, Steffi Graf's record of 22 singles titles.

See lovely photos above.