Serena Williams has been stuck at 23 Grand Slam singles titles since the 2017 Australian Open, but John McEnroe believes the WTA legend has a chance to lift the elusive 24th title at Wimbledon.
Speaking on Eurosport, McEnroe believes that the 40-year old is still motivated to win another Grand Slam title, which would see her draw level with Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
"Serena looks as though she is still training and trying to get herself ready and absolutely wants to try and break the record,” seven-time Grand Slam champion McEnroe told Eurosport. “She seems very motivated still and I anticipate her coming back and making a real run at Wimbledon or trying to do one more US Open.
“She is desperate for one more even though it doesn’t change anything in my book. She is one of the greatest athletes, male or female, that has played the sport, so of course we would like to see her play again, but she is also 40 and doesn’t have the fear factor that she once had amongst the younger players, so that makes it more difficult.”
Williams did not play at the 2022 Australian Open as she said she was not yet ready to “physically compete” at her “highest level”. She may target a return on home soil at the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami in March.
With Williams focusing on regaining her physical fitness, McEnroe thinks the three-set format in the women’s draws at the Grand Slams will be beneficial in her quest to equal Court’s record.
“She has the slight advantage over Roger Federer that the length of the matches are shorter in the women’s game," added McEnroe. “There is an opportunity to recover whereas it’s more difficult if you get stuck in a couple of five-setters at the Grand Slams. Those are the tournaments the players care most about.”
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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