‘GOAT’ Serena Williams showed ‘seriously high quality’ in second round win, Eurosport expert John McEnroe claims

Updated 01/09/2022 at 19:10 GMT

Eurosport tennis expert John McEnroe has heaped praise on Serena Williams after her second round US Open triumph against the tournament's second seed Anett Kontaveit. The 40-year-old rediscovered her best form to beat the Eastonian star 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 under the lights at the Arthur Ashe Stadium and progress to the third round.

US Open highlights: Serena thrills home crowd, Medvedev and Kyrgios through

Serena Williams has been labelled the “greatest of all time” by Eurosport’s John McEnroe, after she knocked out Anett Kontaveit in a convincing second round clash at the US Open.

The 40-year-old beat the tournament’s second seed 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 in front of an elated crowd to set up a third round tie against Ajla Tomljanovic, as she searches for her seventh Grand Slam title on US shores.

McEnroe questioned whether there has ever been a better athlete than the “GOAT of all GOAT’s” Williams, as he heaped praise on the 23-time Grand Slam champions’ performance.

WTA Charleston

Collins 'so grateful' for Williams sisters' support after winning Charleston title

08/04/2024 at 10:11

“You know there’s this ad that Serena was in where she turned into Wonder Woman. Well she’s turned now back into Serena Willliams,” McEnroe said.

“First round, that first set looking shaky,” he added, referring to her recent run of poor form at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Masters. “All of a sudden she’s playing in a way that, dare I say, we expect her to play, even at 40. I mean she played unreal. This was a seriously high quality second round match.

After her hard fought win where she came back from a second set blip to roar onto victory, Williams claimed she “had nothing to lose” during her post match media duties, which McEnroe echoed.

“Absolutely right,” he insisted. “She’s already the GOAT of GOAT’s as it is - people are flocking to see her.

“I was actually surprised at how well she moved. I didn’t agree with [Anett] Kontaveit - what her plan was. It seemed like she wanted to go toe to toe with her which I think was a big mistake.

“You’ve got to try to get longer extended rallies if possible, use angles, which I don’t think she did - maybe she can’t do it - but Serena was the one that was mixing it up.”

NEW YORK, USA, August 31: Serena Williams of the United States in action against Anett Kontaveit of Estonia on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the Women's Singles second round match during the US Open Tennis Championship 2022 at the USTA National Tennis Centre on

Image credit: Eurosport

Mats Wilander chipped in and despite admitting he had previously lowered his expectations of Williams, it didn't take much before he found himself backtracking.

“[It was] unbelievably exciting and I think after all these years I’ve started to lower my expectations of Serena a little bit, but it doesn’t take many matches before the expectations are back up there.

“[The opponents] are intimidated, or she intimidates them because of her power, and when she serves as well as she is doing now I think she presents a completely different problem that most women don’t have to face.”

‘Why throw me under the bus?’ - McEnroe backs Nadal after being drawn into serving row

McEnroe went on to back his claim of Williams being the “greatest of all time,” and questioned whether there has ever been a better athlete in the world of sport.

“I heard people talking about it, and this is arguable that [she is] the greatest athlete of all time.

“Because we say she’s in there with Michael Jordan, Lebron James et cetera, Tom Brady, but has there ever been anywhere a better athlete than Serena Williams?

“She’s right at the top.”

- - -

Stream the 2022 Laver Cup exclusively live on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk

Australian Open