There’s no doubt Serena Williams is one of the greatest female tennis players ever – if not the greatest.
She has 23 Grand Slam tournament wins to her credit, second only to Margaret Court. Her first major came when she was 17 and her most recent occurred in January when she was 35 – and pregnant.
Add it all up and she’s in the conversation as one of the best all-time athletes.
Except, in a wide-ranging feature with Vanity Fair, Williams said her case for sports’ pantheon of greatness would be stronger if she wasn’t a woman.
“If I were a man, then it wouldn’t be any sort of question,” she said.
The Vanity Fair article documented Williams’s engagement to fiancé Alexis Ohanian and her pregnancy. A photoshoot accompanied the story.
The piece comes on the heels of tennis commentator, former star and ex-Milos Raonic coach John McEnroe slagging Williams’s accomplishments as a female athlete.
McEnroe said that although there’s “no question” Williams is the best women’s player in history, if she played on the men’s tour “she’d be like 700 in the world.”
McEnroe, 58, won seven major tournaments in his career.
Williams responded via Twitter, saying, “I adore and respect you but please, please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based.”
“I’ve never played anyone ranked ‘there’ nor do I have time.”
Williams reportedly plans to return to the WTA in 2018 after she gives birth.
That will give her a chance to add to her legacy.
[relatedlinks]
