Serena Williams 'Irreplaceable' But New Generation Ready To Take Over, WTA President Says

Women’s Tennis Association President Micky Lawler believes Serena Williams is “irreplaceable” but the younger generation is already coming.

As far back as a typical women’s tennis fan can remember, Williams has been a household name in the said sport. Alongside her sister Venus, the two made history and already cemented their names in the women’s tennis all-time greats.

However, the undeniable fact in women’s tennis these days may not be the soon retirement of the Williams sisters but the start of a new generation.

In an interview with Tennis365, Lawler shared his thoughts about the reality situation the women's tour is going through these days. According to Lawler, who believes that the WTA has a nice mixture between older and younger players, it is “really cool” to still have the Serena and Venus around, Tennis World noted.

"What is really cool about this era is we still have Serena and Venus Williams as very active leaders of our game, playing at a time when we have this wonderful new generation of stars coming through,” Lawler said.

Much like the Williams sisters, Lawler also believes that Naomis Osaka, Ashleigh Barty and Bianca Andreescu will all be legendary players in the sport as they are already remarkable at this stage of their careers.

“To see Serena and Venus playing against these new stars is a wonderful spectacle. We are seeing an evolution of champions. Elina Svitolina, Karolína Plíšková, Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep are established champions and we also have the next generation of Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty and Bianca Andreescu all here after winning Grand Slam titles in 2019,” Lawler noted.

Lawler even recalled an interesting question he answered roughly three years ago. Based on the president’s recollection, a question was asked about what would happen if Serena retires in which she addressed by saying the tennis icon is “irreplaceable” but the new generation stars are already coming up.

“Obviously, it goes without saying that she is irreplaceable as she is a champion like no other, but it’s really great to see the next generation of stars coming up and being so phenomenal,” Lawler stated.

As for Serena, retirement is still just an idea. During an appearance on Advertising Week New York last September, When Williams was asked about retiring from the sport she has strongly dominated for years, People.com reported.

Williams laughed a bit and joked about the issue. However, the Olympian hinted that she will still be around for a little longer.

“In 20 years, not anytime soon,” Williams said about retirement.