Serena

[Olympic Fan]

This might deserve its own thread, but it kind of fits here.

Serena Williams just confirmed that she's pregnant -- at age 35. She won the Australian Open when she was several weeks pregnant.

Now, that doesn't signal the end of her career by any means, but it's going to be interesting to see if she can return to her current level of dominance.

Which raises the same question we debated regarding Tiger ... if this is indeed the end of her career, is Serena the greatest female tennis player of all time?

Serena has 23 grand slam titles ... one more than Steffi Graf ... one less than Margaret Court.

Serena has 72 career titles overall, which doesn't rank that high. Court has 192 titles -- 92 in the open era. Martina Navratilova has 167 open era titles; Chris Evert 157 and Steffi Graf 107.

I think Court's record is -- at the moment -- better. But I also think that there is a better chance that Serena returns than Tiger returns. So I THINK the issue is still in doubt.

[brevity]

According to Reuters, Serena Williams will not attempt a Pregnancy Slam.

I'm happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this fall," Los Angeles-based publicist Kelly Bush Novak said.

Bush Novak told Reuters that Williams intended to sit out the remainder of the 2017 season and return next year.

Good for her, but I was kind of hoping she would keep playing this year and win the French Open, win Wimbledon, give birth, win the U.S. Open, and then take videos in December of the baby spitting up on copies of Sports Illustrated naming Roy Williams the 2017 Sportsman of the Year.

[duke4ever19]

This might deserve its own thread, but it kind of fits here.

Serena Williams just confirmed that she's pregnant -- at age 35. She won the Australian Open when she was several weeks pregnant.

Now, that doesn't signal the end of her career by any means, but it's going to be interesting to see if she can return to her current level of dominance.

Which raises the same question we debated regarding Tiger ... if this is indeed the end of her career, is Serena the greatest female tennis player of all time?

Serena has 23 grand slam titles ... one more than Steffi Graf ... one less than Margaret Court.

Serena has 72 career titles overall, which doesn't rank that high. Court has 192 titles -- 92 in the open era. Martina Navratilova has 167 open era titles; Chris Evert 157 and Steffi Graf 107.

I think Court's record is -- at the moment -- better. But I also think that there is a better chance that Serena returns than Tiger returns. So I THINK the issue is still in doubt.

Well, as an avid tennis fan, I love these debates.

First, Court was a great player and a great champion, but not greatest ever, and I don't even think she's top 5. And no, it's not due to discrimination based on technology etc. but rather competition (or lack thereof).

Court's Open resume is beefed up by her 11 slam titles at the Australian Open, where her competition was much softer due to many top players declining to make the long trip. She essentially got to dominate an Open in her backyard with little resistance. It's not Court's fault, but it factors into my thinking.

Graf got to her her slam total in a shorter time-frame than Serena, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for Serena.

One could argue that while Serena didn't get there as quickly, (1) her competition was tougher (something I've heard several former tennis greats like Chris Evert say), and (2) she has sustained overall excellence for a longer time than Steffi did.

Serena winning slams at her age is remarkable, and speaks to the most important factor in settling the debate of GOAT. Serena is/was so physically/athletic dominant that she would have crushed the competition in any previous era. I think Court and Steffi, while getting the advantages of technology in today's game, would not stop Serena. She just overwhelms people with her power and precision (an underrated part of her game).

Serena also dealt with health issues off-and-on throughout her career, which (1) makes her dominance all the more impressive and (2) hampered her from getting to the Slam record sooner. People forget about her health issues, but they were very serious in some cases.

So, I not only think Serena is the greatest women's tennis player of all time, but I think she's the greatest women's athlete of all time.

My favorite women's tennis player was Monica Seles, and I think she would have seriously threatened Steffi's overall slam record if it weren't for that horrific attack. I don't count that against Steffi, but I mention it because people forget that Steffi was having a pretty tough time with Monica Seles up to that time.

[WV_Iron_Duke]

+1. Agree completely with Duke4Ever19.

[PackMan97]

The opportunities for women in sports has grown exponentially since Court was born in 1942. I think it's safe to say that there is more competition now just because it's socially acceptable, if not desirable, for the average women to be athletic.

Heck most colleges and high schools didn't even have women's sports until the 70's. It's just a far different world that Serena was born into than Court.

[snowdenscold]

Duke4Ever19 already said it all very well.

My quick 3 points in favor of Serena are:

1) Court piled up a ton of AO titles against extremely weak fields (and related, before the AO was really considered a 4th major on par with the others)
2) Seles stabbing. Not Graf's fault, but can't ignore it.
3) Longevity - majors spanning 1999 to [at least] 2017!


Regarding #3, I doubt we'll see the likes of this again, as teens just don't win majors anymore. But 30-somethings do. Serena happened to catch (lead?) that transition.