Tennis phenomenon Serena Williams has been selected as the Hickok Belt™ Award winner for July 2012. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA). Williams was selected for her impressive performance at Wimbledon where she won the singles title for the fifth time in a victory over Agnieszka Radwanska. The win was her 14th grand slam singles title in all. Williams also went on to win her fifth Wimbledon title in doubles with her sister, Venus. She is currently ranked fourth in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association.
Other finalists for the month of July in order of how the NSSA voters ranked them included: Roger Federer (tennis), Michael Phelps (swimming), Ryan Lochte (swimming), Mike Trout (baseball), Andrew McCutchen (baseball), Jordan Zimmerman (baseball), Tiger Woods (golf), Aroldis Chapman (baseball) and Wladimir Klitschko (boxing).
As a monthly recipient, Williams becomes the seventh of twelve finalists for the overall annual award, joining previous monthly award winners including Eli Manning, Jeremy Lin, Lindsey Vonn, Bubba Watson, Josh Hamilton and LeBron James. Williams as selected by the NSSA will be announced each month throughout 2012. The overall winner will then be announced in early 2013, as the Hickok Belt Award, will be presented for the first time in over 36 years.
