Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
It’s Serena Williams
Clearly the most dominant in her field - check
Cultural Significance- check
Won Major while Pregnant - No one else has done this
Almost died and then returned to dominance.
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I think you're being influenced by the US-based tennis coverage we see, which is all Serena all the time. Accomplishments are not clear cut over other challengers, doesn't have the most slams, there are other players whose peak is stronger. I mean, I'm also biased because I think she's just... awful, leaving tennis aside, but I seriously think a this exalted status she gets is largely propaganda. And a lot of her success is a result of women's tennis being basically a mess for years.
People discredit Federer for beating up on a weak field until Nadal and Djokovic entered their primes, but realistically the field was more or less as good as ever until that happened, at which point the 3 best tennis players ever were playing at the same time. For about a five year stretch before mono and his back injury threw him off kilter, everyone else was literally playing for second place and most of his matches were like watching a completely different sport from what it had been immediately before he broke out... summed up by one announcer's call that sticks with me, which was, after a Fed winner, "that shot does not exist". You couldn't believe what you were watching, multiple times each match. It was quite Gretzky-esque in that regard. Williams has simply never had a run like that - her success has largely been accumulated over time. Her best periods were still marred by a lot of injury issues and unexpected disappointing losses to randoms and weird blow-ups, routinely papered over by American coverage.
As far as Brady goes, I can see the argument, but if the absurd degree of success he's managed in the NFL in terms of Super Bowls is the driving reason - and let's be honest, it is - shouldn't we be talking about Bill Russell? Because in terms of his actual level of play, Brady isn't exactly Gretzky or Jordan / Lebron compared to others at his position. He's certainly among the greatest pure performers ever, but it's not clear cut - for example, if you wanted to win one football game and could take any QB in their prime, it's not a foregone conclusion you're picking prime Brady. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that you're picking prime Gretzky in hockey, or prime Jordan / Lebron for basketball, or prime Federer / Nadal for tennis (depending on the surface).