Serena Williams’ farewell an eloquent acknowledgement of biological inequality | Andy Bull

Williams's career is ending before it would if she were a male player, simply because she must choose between tennis and having more children

This was going to be about whether Serena Williams is the greatest sportswoman in history. After all, who was better?

Maybe Babe Didrikson, with Olympic gold medals in two separate athletics events and 10 major wins on the LPGA tour; perhaps Larisa Latynina, who won 18 medals over three Olympic Games; or Jackie Joyner-Kersee, with her back-to-back titles in the Olympic heptathlon; or Allyson Felix, who has just retired after winning more medals than any other runner in history. From Williams's sport there's Martina Navratilova, with 167 singles titles and another 177 in doubles, or Steffi Graf, who spent 377 weeks at the top of the world rankings.