Serena Williams named 2018 GQ Woman of the Year

Serena Williams didn’t win any of tennis’ four majors for the first time in years, but her remarkable return to the court after giving birth to her first child became one of the best sports stories of 2018. In honor of her accomplishments, GQ Magazine named the tennis star as its Woman of the Year as part of its annual series.

Here’s a closer look at Williams’ cover from the tweet above:

Williams, 37, had a health scare following the birth of her first child in 2017 that led to her struggling on the court early this year. She overcame those initial issues to make the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open, an incredible feat given what she had been through.

Controversy followed Williams at the US Open, however, with an incident involving umpire Carlos Ramos that ended up dominating sports talk shows in the following days. After being penalized by Ramos in the final against Naomi Osaka, Williams called Ramos a “thief” on the court and later accused him of sexism during her post-match news conference.

Williams’ cover has also elicited some debate on social media over whether the use of quotation marks on the word “woman” is disrespectful. A research manager for GQ pointed out that the typography was created by Virgil Abloh in the same style as previous art he designed for Williams’ US Open apparel.

Actors Michael B. Jordan, Jonah Hill and Henry Golding were named GQ’s Men of the Year alongside Williams receiving her honor.