Former female tennis player Jill Craybas believes that Serena Williams deserves to be ranked above Novak Djokovic in the group of greatest stars in tennis history.

“I think Serena can top the list of all-time greats because she has 39 Grand Slams,” Craybas said in a recent ATP Tennis podcast. The former tennis player who won six WTA championships believes that her doubles achievements help differentiate Serena from other tennis legends, including Novak Djokovic.

Serena (right) chats with Djokovic at the Miami Open many years ago. Photo: ESPN
Serena (right) chats with Djokovic at the Miami Open many years ago. Photo: ESPN

Serena has won 23 Grand Slam women’s singles, one less than Margaret Court’s record. The American tennis player also has 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles and two mixed doubles titles. She also won four Olympic gold medals and held world number one for 319 weeks. If including doubles, Court is the player with the most titles, winning 19 Grand Slam women’s doubles and 21 mixed doubles titles. She also won the WTA Finals twice out of a total of 192 career titles.

“When you talk about numbers, why not add them up,” Craybas expressed. “For male players, like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, they play very few doubles. Of course they can win more Grand Slam doubles. If we talk about the number of titles, Serena and Court are the best.”

Djokovic is the male tennis player who has won the most Grand Slam titles with 24 times. He is also the longest ranked tennis player in the world in history, more than 400 weeks. The Serbian tennis player has a total of 98 singles championships, five less than Federer and 11 less than record holder Jimmy Connors.

Craybas, an American tennis player, believes that Serena’s other plus point is her influence off the court. She said: “In terms of quality of play and popularity, Serena is one of the people who has surpassed tennis. People who don’t watch tennis know Serena. She is smart, savvy and successful off the court.” .

Serena retired in September 2022 as the female tennis player with the most prize money of all time – 94 million USD. She ended her nearly two-decade career with 73 singles titles and a total assets of nearly 300 million USD – among the 100 richest women on the planet.