Serena Williams’ retirement from tennis in 2022 rocked the sporting world, as one of the greatest athletes of all time called time on a remarkable career.
It marked a sad moment, but one that had been expected as the 44-year-old had begun to ease her workload in the years leading up to it.
However, despite having been out of the game for nearly four years now, she remains as relevant and revered as she was a decade ago, perhaps even more so.
In fact, as recently as last year, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson perfectly exemplified this by asking for a tennis lesson from her.
When The Rock asked for a tennis lesson from Serena Williams
Speaking to Vogue, the film megastar was asked a unique question that he admitted he’d ‘never been asked before’: if he could have a lesson with any athlete, living or not, who would he pick?
Mulling it over, the American, who originally made a name for himself as a professional wrestler, stated: “Serena Williams comes to mind, as a woman not only shattered glass ceilings, but Serena changed the way the game was played, and how it was looked at, but also did it with this ferocity, hunger. Plus, I had a chance to meet her and her sister.”
Nothing could typify Williams’ claim as one of the greatest tennis players of all time more, given the plethora of legends that were overlooked for Johnson to select her.
They crossed paths back in the mid-2000s, when they presented an award for the ESPYs together.
Why Coco Gauff called Serena Williams the GOAT
This kind of star power, which transcends tennis, is once in a generation.
Fortunately, in Coco Gauff, we already seem to have our natural successor within tennis.
The American youngster is already one of the biggest draws in tennis despite being just 21 years old, and with two Grand Slam titles to her name, the sky really is the limit.
However, whenever the chance comes, she is keen to emphasise how she owes all her success to the path blazed by Serena and her sister.
In 2022, Gauff admitted: “What makes her the GOAT is her personality and all that she’s done off the court to fight for equality, to fight for young players like me and continue to lead in the way that she does and I think that’s what we really should be focused on.
“That’s just Serena. I don’t think there will be anyone who can do what she did, with all the adversity that she had to face, I don’t think there will be another player that will do that.
“She’s the GOAT. And undisputed too. In my opinion. But I don’t think that’s an opinion, it’s a fact. Serena for me is the GOAT. The GOAT of all GOATs.”
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