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The 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams has retired from tennis after a third-round defeat to Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in the US Open 2022. After Serena bowed out of the tournament, many people hailed her as the greatest women's tennis player of all-time, however, Australian legend Margaret Court feels otherwise.
Earlier, the American tennis great wrote in a Vogue essay: "There are people who say I'm not the GOAT (greatest of all time) because I didn't pass Court's record, which she achieved before the 'Open era' that began in 1968."
Serena also claimed that having a baby destroyed her chances of winning more Grand Slams.
Margaret Court had won 64 Grand Slam titles, including singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions throughout the 1960s and early 1970s while Serena Williams had won overall 39 Grand Slam titles.
Margaret Court told Daily Telegraph: "Serena, I've admired her as a player, but I don't think she has ever admired me. The 64 -- I don't think anyone will ever touch."
"I came back after two babies! After having the first baby, I won three out of the four slams. And Serena hasn't won a slam since. I would love to have played in this era – I think it’s so much easier. As amateurs, we had to play every week, because we didn’t have any money. Now, they can take off whenever they want, fly back whenever they want," Court added.
"We would be away for 10 months. That’s why I first retired in 1965, because I used to get homesick," Daily Telegraph quoted Court as saying.