Serena Williams will forever be the GOAT even though Margaret Court has more grand slams

Serena was existing beyond those realms – flaws and all. Few can hit a serve or a forehand like her, but none have Beyonce video appearances, Hollywood film adaptations and multi-million dollar businesswoman on their CV too. Serena’s career and story has stood apart in every sense. Her journey from the public courts in Compton to 23 major singles titles (and 14 in doubles with Venus) is the stuff of dreams. Her father, Richard, masterminded two of the greatest and most unlikely careers in one of America’s most elitist sports and, throughout her career, Serena has continued to defy the odds and come to represent more than tennis. 

She inspired legions of fans when she came back from life-threatening blood clots to win 10 more major singles titles in her thirties. She and Venus also took an anti-racism stand by boycotting Indian Wells for 14 years because of their awful experiences with the crowds there. In perhaps her greatest feat, she won her 23rd – and potentially final – major title at the Australian Open in 2017, becoming, at 35, the oldest woman to do so while two months pregnant with her daughter Alexis Olympia. 

Her hopes of expanding her family have ultimately pushed her to make the “painful” decision to step away, but she has already changed perceptions around motherhood, using her platform to be open about her struggles to make it back. Many athletes have cited her as an inspiration, and that is as much her legacy as any trophy she won.

Some will still refer to Margaret Court’s pre-Open era 24 majors as setting bar in tennis, but sport is about more than records, and few will ever wield the same power and influence Serena had in ushering women to the forefront. Even though the end has been coming, sport without Serena will seem strange. We should savour her final act on the court – we will never see another like her.