'One of the greatest of all time' – Rafael Nadal on 'inspirational' Serena Williams

Rafael Nadal believes Serena Williams is “one of the greatest sportspeople of all time” and will be “sad” when she retires from tennis. Williams, who suggested she could leave the sport after the upcoming US Open, is the most successful tennis player in the Open Era with 23 Grand Slam singles titles and has spent 319 weeks as the world No. 1.

Ad The 40-year-old revealed she is “evolving away” from tennis to focus on family and business commitments. ATP CincinnatiHow Nadal can return to world No. 1 at Cincinnati Masters for first time since 20205 HOURS AGO “She is one of the greatest sports [people] of all time,” Nadal said.

“I feel lucky to share a tour for a long period of time with her. “Of course, from a selfish point of view it’s sad that she’s leaving the tour but, on the other hand, we can’t thank her enough for all the things that she did for our sport. “I think she’s an amazing inspiration for a lot of people around the world and I think she deserves to choose whatever works for her better at this stage off her life.

So I wish her all the best.” 'It’s BS' – McEnroe says Djokovic should be allowed to play US Open 'Disgusting behaviour' — Kyrgios condemns fan after Medvedev row Nadal on return to tennis Nadal will play his first competitive tennis match on Wednesday since withdrawing from his semi-final with Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon last month. The Spaniard suffered a 7mm tear to his abdominal muscle and admits he will be cautious after his latest injury. “I hope to be ready,” Nadal said.

“Of course, I had a small tear in the abdominal so it’s dangerous. The abdominal is the place that is dangerous because in every serve you put a lot of effort there. “I need to take things a little bit easier and do the highs the