The sport of tennis has a rich history of players ushering their domination on the court. From the likes of Billie Jean King and Margaret Court to the likes of Serena Williams and Roger Federer, there has often been a debate about who is the greatest of them all.

Statistically speaking, Margaret Court has won the most number of Grand Slam titles. However, many argue that her wins came before the Open Era. Further, Serena, at 23 Grand Slam titles, closely follows the Australian legend. Tennis legend, Martina Navratilova once addressed this GOAT debate.

Martina Navratilova compares Serena Williams to Margaret Court

During The Ladies’ Room podcast, Navratilova talked about the achievements of the two players while comparing them. She said, “It would be great for somebody and I don’t think anybody will get close to that record so Serena’s the only one that can really do it. Just for that reason, it would be kind of icing on the cake. At the same time, Margaret, it wasn’t like the Open Era. There wasn’t like a ‘closed era’ for women. The men played the pro tour but there was no such thing for the women.”

Further, she added, “I don’t like to compare Eras because back then, the majors didn’t mean that much… It is still what it is. Margaret’s won 24, Serena has 23 and it would be fitting if Serena tied her and then broke that record.”

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Serena’s Grand Slam tally remained at 23 as she lost in the third round of this year’s US Open, the last tournament of her professional tennis career.

What did Navratilova say when a fan claimed her to be the G.O.A.T.?

Amidst the G.O.A.T. debate, a fan listed down Navratilova’s statistics on Twitter and claimed her to be the greatest of all time. However, Navratilova felt that comparing different eras was silly.

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Nonetheless, Navratilova is one of the most decorated players in tennis. She has 59 Grand Slam titles overall, including 18 in singles, 31 in women’s doubles, and 10 major mixed doubles titles.