Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou firmly believes that the American has cemented her place in the history books as the GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time) in women’s tennis.
Mouratoglou, who coached Williams from 2012 to 2022, believes that no other player can surpass his former charge’s achievements in the women’s game.
Stating that it was the decade of ‘GOATs’, the Frenchman named several athletes across sports who deserved the title. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were the other tennis players he named, with the likes of LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Lewis Hamilton also finding mention.
When Eurosport picked up his quote and asked fans to name their own GOATs, Mouratoglou replied as well, declaring Williams the undisputed best player of all-time in women's tennis. At the same time, the Frenchman was undecided on who gets that honor in men's tennis.
“Serena in women’s tennis and still tbd in men’s,” Mouratoglou tweeted.
Serena Williams retired from tennis at the 2022 US Open with a total of 23 singles Grand Slam titles to her name, the most by any player in the Open Era.
Federer also retired last year, playing his last match at the Laver Cup in London. The Swiss maestro, with his 20 Grand Slam titles, will go down in history as one of the best to ever have played the sport. Nadal and Djokovic, on the other hand, each have 22 Major titles and are still vying for top honors on the ATP tour.
When asked how he could include three players on the GOAT list for men’s tennis, Mouratoglou responded by saying that each of them is undoubtedly the best, but the GOAT is yet undecided. That debate, he reckons, will come to an end in the coming years, perhaps by the time Nadal and Djokovic have retired for good.
“They are undoubtedly the three best players in the history, even though next years will probably define one of the three as the only GOAT,” he opined.
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