Serena Williams named Sportsperson of 2015 by Sports Illustrated

Such numbers are reason enough for Sports Illustrated to name Serena Williams its 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.

Serena held the number one spot of the Women’s Tennis Ranking every week this year, not to mention the unbelievable 21 Grand Slam so far in her career.

And flirted with winning the sports first grand slam in 27-years but came up just short at the US open.

“This year was spectacular”, Williams said of her latest accolade. She lost the opportunity to win the calendar Grand Slam when Roberta Vinci defeated Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals.

To wit: a cough and cold that had her vomiting during a match at the Australian Open, which she won anyway; bone bruises in both knees – “the residue of 20 years of pounding” – a right elbow strain and nasty flu at the French Open (again, she won).

Who is more deserving of the award? She remained No. 1 all season, with absolutely no challengers within range to dethrone her.

On Monday, Sports Illustrated published another article, explaining that the decision to choose Williams was based not just on her impressive record but also on her endeavors off the court, including her willingness to confront social issues.

The publication last honored a lone woman in 1983 when they chose runner Mary Decker.

This year Williams appeared at a tournament in Indian Wells, California, where she allegedly was taunted with racial slurs as a teenager early in her career. She returned to Indian Wells in “15, a conciliator seeking to raise the level of discourse about hard questions, the hardest ones, really”, wrote Sports Illustrated ” s managing editor Christian Stone, in a separate op-ed.

Reaction on Twitter to SI’s selection of Williams was mostly critical from horseracing fans and the American Pharoah camp.