Williams is just shy of the most Grand Slam titles
Tennis legend Serena Williams announced her intentions to retire from the sport on Aug. 9, and people have flooded different platforms to honor her career.
Williams is set to retire following the US Open that begins on Aug. 29 and goes through Sept. 11. The 40-year-old has won a total 23 Grand Slam titles since making her tennis debut in 1995. A win at the Open would tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Former professional tennis player John McEnroe commemorated the four-time Olympic gold medalist for her beyond impressive career.
“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,” McEnroe told Fox News Digital on Sunday. “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.”
Williams could be compared to any great according to McEnroe but mention of Brady and Jordan is notable. Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl winner and is still playing the game of football at 45 years old. Jordan is a basketball legend, having retired with a lengthy player résumé including being a 10-time All-NBA First Team member and five-time MVP.
McEnroe continued on about Williams and how she looks to close out her star-studded career.
“It sounds like she wants to have more kids, awesome. She’s got a lot of other interests. People want to be a part of what she’s doing. She’ll be doing just fine. We were sort of expecting this to happen,” McEnroe said. “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.”
Williams looks to finish her career on a high note at the previously mentioned US Open tournament set to take place at the end of Aug.