FINAL WIMBLEDON SHOT FOR SERENA
JOHN MCENROE has compared “icon” Serena Williams to Michael Jordan as she prepares for her potential last dance at Wimbledon.
The 23-time singles Grand Slam winner returns for the first time in nearly a year this week, playing doubles in the Rothesay International at Eastbourne.
And the US superstar will then make her latest – and perhaps final – bid to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams after accepting a Wimbledon wildcard into the singles. She has not won a Major since becoming a mother in September 2017.
NBA legend Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls was chronicled in the Netflix series The Last Dance. Playing Wimbledon and the US
Open this summer could prove the last chance for Williams, now 40, to make more history.
She limped out of SW19 in tears last year after twisting her ankle in the first round and has not played a competitive match since.
Now the return of the seventime Wimbledon champion is set to transcend tennis and become one of the biggest talking points of The Championships.
“Serena’s obviously been trying to get that one to tie Margaret Court and win that first one since she had a kid,” said
BBC commentator Mcenroe (above). “But she seems to have become, I believe it’s all around the world, but certainly in America, she’s up there with the likes of Michael Jordan and the all-time great athletes icons.”
There is no doubting the sporting and cultural impact that Williams has made on sport and society. But the world No.1208’s current condition and ability to play Grand Slam tennis is a mystery and her comeback was only confirmed on Tuesday.
This year she will sharpen her grass-court skills playing doubles at Eastbourne with Ons Jabeur.
“I am over the moon with the news,” said the Tunisian world No.4. “Hopefully we will make a great team. I cannot wait to play with her – she is a legend.”
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka has pulled out of Wimbledon citing a ‘leg injury’. The former world
No.1, who has previously admitted that she was unlikely to compete after it was stripped of its ranking points, follows 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard in withdrawing.
The former world No.5 had shoulder surgery last year and no longer has a WTA ranking but could have played using her protected ranking.
But Canadian Bouchard, now 28, posted on social media: “Due to my shoulder surgery, I get a limited number of protected ranking (PR) entries. As much as I love Wimbledon and skipping it makes me sad, using a PR entry at a tournament with no ranking points doesn’t make sense.
“I must choose wisely.”