Serena Williams’ GOAT status debatable, says Martina Navratilova
The Tennis Channel has ranked Williams the number-one women’s player of all time, with Navratilova being placed at number two, followed by Steffi Graf.
Tennis icon Serena Williams is being debated as the greatest of all time — FYI: that’s GOAT, for short — between passionate fans and dimwit players alike.
Forbes Magazine isn’t debating. Its staffers are only highlighting, for objective observers like Martina Navratilova, reminders-slash-reasons as to why Williams has, indeed, been ranked the GOAT of tennis.
Williams made it 23 Grand Slam titles with her win at the Australian Open in 2017, and could match the record with a 2020 victory at the U.S. Open in New York, which begins Monday, Aug. 31.
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Compared to her peers, Margaret Court, who boasts 24 wins, and Steffi Graf, who has 22, the debate on whether Williams is the GOAT is an open conversation, Navratilova said on Monday.
“If you just go on majors, then you have Serena,” the also-legendary tennis player said on a Tennis Channel conference call. “If you go a different way, then it would be me or Steffi Graf, perhaps Margaret Court. It just depends [on] how you want to measure that.”
“But I think Serena just wants that record [of 24 Grand Slam titles] regardless of any GOAT status. For her, it’s about that number. Now she’s got a great chance with the U.S. Open with a smaller field obviously,” Navratilova said.
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According to Navratilova, Williams is motivated by the crowds’ feedback, and, of course, no audience will be attending the U.S. Open due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, Williams has gone 3-1, and two of her events were without fans in the stands.
Currently, Williams, who turns 39 next month, is in her Long Island home, as opposed to staying at a hotel, due to the precondition of her lungs. On July 3, 2010, in London, England, the tennis star was treated for a blood clot in the lungs.
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Regardless of her performance in the Open, a recent poll on the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the No. 1 women’s player of all time, with Navratilova being placed at No. 2, followed by Graf, Chrissie Evert and Billie Jean King.
