Serena Williams: ‘Roger Federer’s not better than me, I got 23, he got 20’

Serena Williams was not joking when she declared, deadpanned that she is a better player than Swiss maestro Roger Federer.

Serena Williams' belief in herself is unrivalled. Pictures: Getty

Whether you love her or hate her, Serena Williams is one of the greatest players of all-time.

A 23-time grand slam who made 10 more finals which she lost in, Williams finished with the second most titles of all-time behind Aussie Margaret Court’s tally of 24, although the American’s all came during the Open era.

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It’s an unthinkable record when put in context with the men’s game as before Novak Djokovic (23 grand slam titles), Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20), the previous record was held by Pete Sampras at 14.

But there’s a reason Williams is arguably the greatest of all-time — as current World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe revealed on the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Talk Show.

He was talking about the 2019 Hopman Cup in Perth, where Williams and Federer played each other for the first time in a competitive match in a mixed doubles rubber.

Tiafoe was part of the historic clash. Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

Heading into the Switzerland-USA clash, the tie was one-all and Federer and Belinda Bencic defeated Williams and Tiafoe 4-2 4-3 in the decider.

“Best (Serena) story I got, I’m playing mixed with her, we’re playing Fed and Bencic,” Tiafoe said to fellow US tennis stars Chris Eubanks and Blake Shelton.

“I’ve never seen an atmosphere like this. Everything that happened, double fault, people are going crazy.

“Fed is aceing her left, right, and centre. She gets aced again. We go sit down. She goes ‘Ugh! I don’t get it. I can’t lose this. He’s not better than me. I got 23 (Slams), he’s got 20’.”

Eubanks said: “No way. No way, you making this up.”

They don’t come more competitive than Serena Williams. Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

Federer is enjoying his retirement. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

“That’s when I was like, I get it now. I’m a big believer in … you’ve got to be different (to be the best). You have to be, bro.

“Because she’s saying that, she didn’t laugh. This wasn’t a joke. She was like ‘Ugh! I’ve got 23, he’s got 20’.

“That's that mindset of ‘I’m the best’. When she said it, I was like ‘oh s**t, I’m a**’.”

To play devil’s advocate for Federer, the Swiss maestro won 103 ATP titles, behind only Jimmy Connors with 109, while Williams won 73 titles to sit fifth on the WTA list.

Both Federer and Williams both retired in 2022 but both go down as some of the greatest to have ever have picked up a racquet.

The 25-year-old Tiafoe is into the third round of Wimbledon, having beaten rising Swiss star Dominic Stricker in straight sets in the second round.

Having yet to drop a set in Wimbledon this year, the 10th seed Tiafoe is set to play 21 seed Grigor Dimitrov.