Retired tennis player and ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe told Newsmax Thursday that before this year's U.S. Open began, he didn't believe tennis legend Serena Williams, at 40, could go on to win the tournament.
However, after her stunning win Wednesday night to eliminate No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit, to move on to a third round in the tournament, McEnroe commented to Newsmax's "Wake Up America" that he thinks now she "has a chance."
"Everybody before the tournament said, 'Can Serena Williams win this term?' Absolutely not. This is a swan song. It's a coronation, a well-deserved one. She's the greatest of all time," said McEnroe.
Williams was "a little edgy" in her first round in the tournament, where "she didn't play a great opponent" while defeating 80th-ranked Danka Kovinic in straight sets Monday, McEnroe said, but Wednesday, she turned that around.
"She's playing the No. 2 player in the world who hasn't played great the last four or five months, but she played well last night," McEnroe said of Kontaveit.
Williams, who "won a tight first set and had a little bit of a let down in the second, gets blown away," he said, so it appeared that "maybe she's going to run out of gas."
But then Williams "turned it on in the third set" for the win, said McEnroe. Further, the crowds are out in full force to cheer Williams on after her announcement in August that she is considering retirement after the U.S. Open.
"I've been lucky enough to be inside that stadium when Pete Sampras played Andre Agassi, Serena in her prime was dominating, playing her sister, Venus. … I've never heard it like I heard it last night," said McEnroe. "It was absolutely mind-boggling how loud it was."
The momentum will keep growing, he added, as the Williams sisters will play in Thursday night's doubles matches, and then Serena's third-round match will likely be Friday night, because of the attendance numbers and the ratings involved.
And, Williams may be looking at a storybook ending in the tournament, but it's important to remember that there are still several "great younger players out there," said McEnroe.
"What I love about what I'm seeing is she's an all-time great; she's an icon," he said. "We know what she's done off the court in speaking out on women's rights for African Americans, just for people in general."
Still, Williams is "more vulnerable" in the tournament than she has been in others in her later years, said McEnroe.
"But you see her trying so hard, and that's something to me that that's amazing to see some from an all-time great," and she's getting better as the tournament goes on, said McEnroe.
"We saw her at Wimbledon," he said. "She really struggled there. She played a couple of tournaments this summer and didn't look good."
Wednesday night, though, the "younger Serena" was playing, said McEnroe.
"She was pounding the ball and serving big, and the biggest difference from what I saw in Wimbledon is her movement is coming back."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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