'Put herself along the likes of Tom Brady, Michael Jordan': McEnroe on Serena Williams

Tuesday, 16 August 2022 at 20:10

Updated at Wednesday, 13 November 2024 at 08:42

byJordan Reynolds

Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe rates Serena Williams as the best female athlete ever and also considers her one of the best sportspeople of all time.

Williams will play the opening match of the penultimate of her career against Emma Raducanu at the Cincinnati Open. The 23-time Grand Slam champion previously announced she would retire at the US Open.

McEnroe has praised Williams several times throughout her career, as most analysts have, but he is also known for causing controversy after comments he made about the tennis legend in 2017.

During an interview, McEnroe said Williams would be ranked around No. 700 if she played on the men's tour. Many condemned those comments and wondered why such a debate was even necessary.

However, in recent comments, McEnroe was keen to emphasize his respect for Williams, describing the seven-time Wimbledon champion as the best female athlete ever.

Read also

WATCH: Fan Removed For Wearing Ukrainian Flag After Russian players Complain In Cincinnati

"Serena’s the greatest female athlete, to me, in the history of sports. I don’t care who you could come up with. She’s one of the greatest athletes period – male or female. She’s put herself along the likes of Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, whoever you wanna say … She’s 40 years old. She’s done everything in tennis. She’s got nothing to prove.

Although Williams will not be able to break Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles by the end of her career, McEnroe still believes she is the best female player ever and thinks she will cope okay with being a retired player.

"She’ll be doing just fine. We were sort of expecting this to happen. She wanted to win a couple more, one or two more, break the all-time record, win a couple after having her daughter. That doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen but that, to me, doesn’t take away that she’s the greatest of all time."