By Richard Pagliaro

Serena Williams' greatness transcends tennis, John McEnroe says.

Speaking to Fox News Digital, McEnroe says those debating the 23-time Grand Slam champion's place in tennis history are completely missing the point.

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McEnroe asserts four-time Olympic gold-medal champion Serena's achievement put her beyond tennis. McEnroe says Williams is the greatest female athlete of all time and belongs in the conversation with Michael Jordan and Tom Brady as the greatest athlete of all time. 

Former world No. 1 Williams announced she will retire after the US Open.

"Serena’s the greatest female athlete, to me, in the history of sports. I don’t care who you could come up with," McEnroe said. "She’s one of the greatest athletes period—male or female. She’s put herself along the likes of Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, whoever you wanna say …

"She’s 40 years old. She’s done everything in tennis. She’s got nothing to prove."

Hall of Famer McEnroe, who held world No. 1 rankings in singles and doubles as Serena did, says even if Williams concludes her brilliant career one major behind 24-time Grand Slam champion Margaret Court he regards Williams as GOAT.



"It sounds like she wants to have more kids, awesome. She’s got a lot of other interests," McEnroe told Fox News Digital. "People want to be a part of what she’s doing. She’ll be doing just fine. We were sort of expecting this to happen.

"She wanted to win a couple more, one or two more, break the all-time record, win a couple after having her daughter. That doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen but that, to me, doesn’t take away that she’s the greatest of all time."

Photo credit: Nike