Serena Williams is undoubtedly one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but John McEnroe has said she is on the same level in America as one of the country's other sporting legends.
Williams' achievements throughout her career have been extraordinary. She is a 23-time Grand Slam champion, including seven titles at Wimbledon. The 40-year-old also won Olympic gold in singles and women's doubles.
Her presence has been sorely missed during her time on the sidelines. She was ruled out for nearly a year with a leg injury after slipping on the grass courts at Wimbledon during her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Thankfully, Williams is set to play her first match in close to 12 months at the Eastbourne International in a doubles contest with Ons Jabeur. She will then make an undoubtedly emotional return to Wimbledon next week.
Seven-time major champion McEnroe reflected on Williams' injury at SW19 last year, saying it was terrible to see her have to bow out in such unfortunate circumstances.
"I haven’t seen her – no one has seen anyone really, and so now we’re finally getting to Wimbledon. Last year the fans were like, this is amazing. And then to see what happened last year, you hate to see someone like Serena go out like that.”
McEnroe also knows Williams is desperate to win one final Grand Slam to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles. Regardless of whether she achieves that, McEnroe believes she stands alongside basketball legend Michael Jordan due to her achievements.
“Serena’s obviously been trying to get that one to tie Margaret Court and win that first one since she had a kid. But she seems to have become, I believe it’s all around the world, but certainly in America, she’s up there with like Michael Jordan and the all time great athletes icons."