Beasley Reece: Serena Williams Is "The Greatest Athlete In The Country…Maybe The World"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Tennis star Serena Williams defeated Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-4 on route to her sixth Wimbledon title, twenty-first major title and fourth straight major, also known as a "Serena Slam." This is her second time completing the Serena Slam, the first being during the 2002-2003 seasons.
Sports analyst Beasley Reece told Talk Radio 1210 WPHT morning host Chris Stigall that regardless of gender, she is the "greatest athlete in the country."
"I don't know that you have to categorize it as female. I mean, I think Serena Williams, that's a great point—this is probably the greatest athlete in the country."
Reece feels that there is currently not a single man in any sport that has shown the kind of dominance and longevity that we have seen from Serena.
"You know, I'm trying to think of some man in his sport who is as accomplished and this dominant over such a long period time as Serena Williams. Listen, I've always contended that the greatest athlete of all time is Babe Zaharias. Just through my studies of athletes over all these years, nobody could compare to Babe when it comes to the ability to go from sport to sport, Olympic accomplishments, literally starting the LPGA; this a woman like Babe, shot out of a cannon, a physical freak of nature, a phenom. She is the greatest athlete in the country I believe, maybe in the world."
If Williams wins the U.S. Open, she will become the first woman to complete the calendar year grand slam since Steffi Graf did so in 1988.