Longest span of tennis Grand Slam singles finals

Serena Williams (USA) reached her 33rd Grand Slam singles final at the US Open on 7 September 2019, 19 years 361 days after appearing at (and winning) her first major final, also at the US Open on 11 September 1999. At the age of 19 years 83 days, Williams’ 2019 US Open conqueror, Bianca Andreescu, was 278 days younger than Serena’s span of Grand Slam finals!

Sister Venus Williams previously had the longest span of Grand Slam final appearances, with 19 years 312 days separating her progress to the 1997 US Open final (6 September) and the 2017 Wimbledon final (15 July).

Serena has reached 10 US Open finals alone, winning six of them. Her first final appearance in New York, in 1999, came three years before she made it to a final at one of the other three Grand Slams. By 2003, she’d won all four titles at least once.

Serena is also ranked first for the longest span of Grand Slam singles titles – 17 years 139 days (US Open, 11 September 1999, to Australian Open, 28 January 2017).