John McEnroe compares Serena Williams to Aryna Sabalenka and picks out the big difference
09/07/2024 11:12 AM
Aryna Sabalenka has emerged as one of the biggest hitters of a ball at this year’s US Open, but tennis legend John McEnroe is convinced she would be no match for a prime Serena Williams.
Sabalenka’s groundstrokes have been comparable to some of the top players in the men’s draw, with her average topspin forehand speed of 129km/h putting her ahead of Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner on that statistic.
Improved racket technology has aided the speed players as they look to strike with more power, yet seven-time Grand Slam finalist McEnroe is convinced 23-time Grand Slam-winning legend would have beaten Sabalenka when was at the peak of her powers.
Williams beat Sabalenka in their only professional meeting at the 2021 Australian Open and while the Belarus star has taken her game up several levels since then, McEnroe does not believe she has scaled the heights Williams reached in her record-breaking career.
“Sabalenka has improved her movement, but I don’t think that she is at the same level as Serena when she was at her best,” said McEnroe at a Eurosport event.
“Obviously, we are talking about two of the biggest hitters that have ever been in the women’s game, but I would take Serena to beat her still.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Sabalenka. She has improved her game and that is why she is finally winning majors and contending in every event she is in.”
Williams transformed the women’s game with her powerful brand of tennis, which is a few steps ahead of where McEnroe was when he was at the peak of his powers in the early 1980s.
While some of the nuances of tennis have been lost as players have fine-tuned their fitness levels and benefitted from racket technology, McEnroe can see some positives in how the sport has evolved.
“Obviously the game was a lot slower when I played,” he reflected. “The game got quicker because of technology and the players are just bigger now, they understand more about fitness.
“It was different in the past because you could see players trying to work out their strategy on the court and that was interesting, but I see lots of positives here as well.
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“When you see what Carlos Alcaraz has done by turning himself into a player who can do everything on the court, others are trying to copy that now.
“In ten years, I don’t know where we are going to be. They are hitting it so hard, but we are also seeing guys like Sinner coming forward and volleying very well, which is taking his game to the next level.
“I thought watching guys like (Roger) Federer, (Rafael) Nadal and (Novak) Djokovic that it couldn’t get any better.
“Let’s see what it’s like in ten years. Right now, it feels like we are on the right track.
“We all asked what would happen when Roger, Rafa and Novak were gone, but now we have Alcaraz and Sinner.
“I think Alcaraz is the most complete player I have seen at his age, better than those other guys I just mentioned. That’s how good he is.
“If you had told me a few years ago that Djokovic, Nadal and Federer would all have in excess of 20 majors, I’d have said you were crazy.
“These guys took the sport to a different level, the three greatest players of all-time playing at the same time.
“Of course, they leave a big void when they go, but we are lucky that we have Djokovic still playing so well and pushing on Alcaraz and Sinner to have a rivalry with him.
“Now the next step is getting a few American men in the mix and we need a few more rivalries. The sport keeps going and you have to hope we are going to go to get bigger and better.”
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