"If my younger brother was better than me I don’t think I would have handled it as well as she has"- John McEnroe on Venus Williams dealing with Serena Williams' success
Tennis legend John McEnroe discussed Venus Williams' attitude towards her younger sister Serena Williams' success.
The Williams sisters have dominated the tour for over two decades. They have 48 Grand Slam titles together (including 14 shared women's doubles titles), and both have topped the WTA Rankings.
Despite this, Serena Williams was the one that stood out the most between them, with 23 Grand Slam titles under her belt. Venus Williams also has seven Majors to her name and is an all-time great, but she failed to match her sister's achievements.
Serena Williams beats Venus to win Australian Open and record 23rd Grand Slam title https://t.co/wrjtop9fm3
In light of this, John McEnroe discussed the Williams sisters in a recent interview with ESPN. He specifically hailed Venus Williams for handling her sister's success so well.
"I’m sure Venus is thinking about the same thing that Serena is, and she’s done a lot for Serena, in my book, supporting her and being with her because she was the one that was at the top and then the dad was saying, which you can’t forget, 'I’ve got the younger sister’s gonna be even better'," McEnroe said.
"If my younger brother blew by me, was better than me I don’t think I would have handled it as well as Venus has," he added.
"If you just set her apart from Serena and you look at her record, you look at the influence she’s had"- Chris Evert on Venus Williams
In the same ESPN interview, Chris Evert discussed Venus Williams' influence in tennis, stating that she has a different personality than Serena and that she's "not getting a lot of attention."
"If you just set her apart from Serena and you look at her record and you look at how many Wimbledons she’s won and you look at grand slams and doubles and you look at the influence she’s had," Evert said, adding, "She’s been such a different personality than Serena. And she’s not getting a lot of attention. And, I don’t know, I think it’s just interesting to me."
The American tennis legend then expressed her curiosity over Venus' current plans, especially as her younger sister announced her post-US Open retirement.
"Are they going to both retire at the same time? Is Venus going to keep going and Serena is going to retire? I think that’s an interesting question too. What are Venus plans? She’s kind of in the shadow of Serena right now and nobody is taking stock of what her tennis plans are. But that would be interesting, too," Evert said.
Both sisters will ply the singles event at the 2022 US Open, where Serena Williams will be vying for her record 24th Grand Slam title. Venus will begin her campaign against Alison Van Uytvank, while Serena will face Danka Kovinic in the first round.
US Open main draw.
Notable 1R matches:
Serena Williams vs. Danka Kovinic
Naomi Osaka vs. Danielle Collins
Emma Raducanu vs. Alizé Cornet
Venus Williams vs. Alison Van Uytvanck
#USOpen https://t.co/rwhg5ni9Du