As the US Open prepares to say goodbye to Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka was succinct in summing up why whatever tributes and send-offs that are planned will still not be nearly enough. “You can’t even describe it in words," Osaka said when asked about the legacy left behind by one of sport’s greatest ever figures, ahead of what is expected to be Williams’s final tournament in New York this week.
It is true – how can you? Especially if, like for the 24-year-old Osaka, the image of Williams and her sister Venus being at the top of tennis is all you have known. Perhaps, then, the best way to view the transformational impact of Williams, on the sport and on and off the court, is through the generation of players who have followed in her lead.
